The Story
I photographed this Andean Emerald (Uranomitra franciae) at Finca La Conchita, in the Kilómetro 18 area near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in October 2019. It builds a cup nest of tree-fern scales and plant fibers bound with spider silk and covered in lichen. Breeding has been recorded at almost every time of year. Both sexes have a coral-red lower mandible with a dark tip. It feeds by trap-lining but gives way to territorial hummingbirds at flower patches. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, −0.7 EV. It is considered uncommon to fairly common and is found in at least one protected area.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Andean Emerald (Uranomitra franciae) 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