The place
La Macarena, Meta, Colombia. Along the Río Guayabero, at the gateway to the Serranía de la Macarena, an ancient block of Guiana Shield rock, Hoatzins and Cocoi Herons line the river. I was out at 7 a.m. on a July morning in 2017.
The shot
The tanager landed on a strand of rusty barbed wire at the edge of the greenery and paused, looking up. Its orange crown, black mask and blue-green wings stood out against a golden-buff body, a bright wild bird perched on a reminder of the farmland that now borders its habitat.
The bird
A tanager of the family Thraupidae, the Burnished-buff Tanager (Stilpnia cayana, listed by BirdLife as Tangara cayana) lives from sea level to about 1,800 m across a range BirdLife estimates at 5.48 million km², in habitats from dry savanna and shrubland to lowland forest and farmland.
Conservation
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, last assessed 2018), with a stable population trend, according to BirdLife. Source: BirdLife International