The Story
I photographed this Gray-headed Tanager (Eucometis penicillata) at Entreaguas Reserva Natural in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. Pairs build the nest, a small, loose cup of plant fibers. The usual clutch is two eggs. It often follows army ant swarms to catch insects fleeing the ants, staying within about 10 meters of the ground. Away from ant swarms it perches about 5 to 15 meters up and sallies out to snatch prey from leaves. Entreaguas is one of the civil-society reserves of Ibagué’s nature tourism network, set in premontane humid forest at about 1,050 to 1,300 meters.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800. IUCN lists the Gray-headed Tanager as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Gray-headed Tanager (Eucometis penicillata) 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 2018), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List