The Story
This female Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) was at La Macarena, Meta, Colombia when I photographed it. It forages mostly on the ground but also takes seeds straight from the grasses. It also eats small amounts of berries and insects. It lives in shrubby, weedy fields, thickets, field edges, grassy fields and roadsides. The Sierra de la Macarena is home to about 420 bird species, along with eight species of primates. La Macarena is part of the Sierra de la Macarena and of the Macarena Special Management Area, which brings together several protected areas.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600. IUCN lists the Blue-black Grassquit as Least Concern, with an increasing population.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List
