The Story
The shot
This Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) was at Finca Alejandría at Km 18 above Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia when I photographed it on February 22, 2019. It is a hummingbird of Colombia and Venezuela, dark glittering golden-green below with greenish to steel-blue undertail coverts. In most of its range it lives between sea level and about 1,500 meters and forages for nectar at low bushes and trees. It was formerly placed in the genus Amazilia. Cali lies in the Cauca River valley at about 1,000 meters, with the Western Andes rising to the west of the city.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800. IUCN lists the Steely-vented Hummingbird as Least Concern, with a decreasing population (2021).
©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
