The Story
I photographed this Drab Water Tyrant (Ochthornis littoralis) from the Ferry Marcopolo on the Orteguaza River at Puerto Arango, near Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2020. It is a bird of the western Amazon Basin and is always found near water, especially large rivers. It favors steep riverbanks and islands, where it perches on exposed roots and piles of debris rather than open beaches. In Colombia it lives up to about 500 meters. Males and females look alike, sandy brown with a faint whitish eyebrow, and it stays in the same area all year. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400. It is considered fairly common along rivers, and it occurs in national parks and other protected areas throughout its range.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Drab Water Tyrant (Ochthornis littoralis) 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 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
