The Story
I photographed this Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) at Finca La Conchita, in the Kilómetro 18 area near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in October 2019. It lives only in Colombia and Venezuela. Males are glittering golden-green below with steel-blue undertail coverts, which give the species its name. The nominate subspecies lives in the Cauca River valley and on the western slope of the Western Andes. It feeds at low bushes and trees and is thought to be somewhat territorial. 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 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, −0.7 EV. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18 is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) 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 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List