The Story
I made this photo of a Red-crested Cotinga (Ampelion rubrocristatus) at Murillo, Tolima, Colombia. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It forages alone, in pairs or in small groups, usually plucking fruit in short sallies from a perch. It also takes insects in mid-air. Its nest is a large cup of moss, lichen and twigs in a bush or tree. Cortolima lists Murillo among Tolima’s birding routes. Murillo, at about 3,000 meters, is the highest town in Tolima, close enough to Nevado del Ruiz that the volcano is easy to see.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400, +1 EV. IUCN lists the Red-crested Cotinga as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Red-crested Cotinga (Ampelion rubrocristatus) belongs to the family Cotingidae (Cotingas) 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