The Story
I made this photo of a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca fumicolor) at Los Nevados National Natural Park in Murillo, Tolima, Colombia. It usually forages alone or in pairs and sometimes joins mixed-species flocks. It perches upright on branches, stumps, fence posts and shrubs, seldom more than 2 meters off the ground. Its nest is a cup of moss and grass lined with soft plant fibers or animal wool. Murillo, at about 3,000 meters, is the highest town in Tolima, and the western edge of the municipality takes in the peaks of Nevado del Ruiz.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600. IUCN lists the Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca fumicolor) belongs to the family Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers) 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 stable. Source: IUCN Red List