The Story
On June 13, 2017, I photographed this Gray-breasted Martin (Progne chalybea) in Flandes, Tolima, Colombia. It is a social bird that hunts insects in flight and nests in cavities in banks and buildings or old woodpecker holes. The adult male is glossy blue-black with a gray-brown throat and breast contrasting with a white belly. Flandes grew up after about 1906 at the river crossing called the Paso de Flandes and became a municipality in 1949.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/2000 sec, f/8, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Gray-breasted Martin as Least Concern with a stable population, and the Santiago Vila airport in Flandes is valued as part of the town’s heritage and is still used for paragliding, kite flying and air tours.
©2017 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Gray-breasted Martin (Progne chalybea) belongs to the family Hirundinidae (Swallows) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List