The Story
I photographed this Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) at La Florida, El Bosque de las Aves, in the Kilómetro 18 area near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in October 2019. It feeds on nectar close to the ground, from short-tubed flowers or through holes at the base of long-tubed ones. Its bulky cup nest of moss and cobweb is placed on mossy trunks, rocky ridges or even at the entrance of caves. The female raises the young alone, and after brooding she perches near the nest instead of entering it. It is a very common hummingbird of moderate elevations.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Speckled Hummingbird as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) belongs to the family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
