The Story
I photographed this Yellow-rumped Cacique (Cacicus cela) at Corpoamazonia’s Centro Experimental Amazónico, near Mocoa, Putumayo, Colombia, in October 2019. It eats large insects, spiders, nectar and fruit such as figs. It lives in open woodland and farmland with large trees. It nests in colonies of up to 100 hanging bag nests in a single tree, which usually also holds an active wasp nest. Males sing a rich mix of fluting notes, cackles and wheezes, sometimes with mimicry, and a busy colony can be heard from far away. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. The center’s botanical garden keeps plants used in traditional medicine by Indigenous and campesino communities, and its nursery grows plants for reforestation and watershed restoration.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Yellow-rumped Cacique (Cacicus cela) belongs to the family Icteridae (Troupials 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 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
