The Story
I photographed this Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) at Finca La Conchita, in the Kilómetro 18 area near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in October 2019. Males are glossy green with a black head and a bright honey-yellow bill, while females are plain grass green. Females have a black upper bill and a dull yellow lower bill, and both sexes have reddish brown eyes. The female builds a shallow cup nest of dead leaves and rootlets and incubates alone. It forages alone, in pairs or with mixed-species flocks. 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 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, −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 Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
