The Story
On June 15, 2017, I photographed this Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) at PANACA in Quimbaya, Quindío, Colombia. It lives in open woodland with some tall trees, including farmland and areas around homes. It is a tyrant flycatcher found from the far southern United States to Argentina and the only member of its genus. Its black head has a strong white stripe over the eye and a hidden yellow crown stripe. Quimbaya was founded in 1914 and became a municipality in 1922.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Great Kiskadee as Least Concern with an increasing population, and every December 7 and 8 since 1982, Quimbaya’s neighborhoods have competed to light the town in the Candles and Lanterns Festival.
©2017 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) 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 2018), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List