The Story
I photographed this Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) at the Hacienda El Triunfo Private Nature Reserve, near Honda, Tolima, Colombia, in October 2019. It lives in the lowlands of the American tropics, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. It has a shaggy crest and a long, heavy bill, and males have a rich rufous breast that females lack. It lives along large rivers and the wooded shores of lakes, and it prefers open country to dense forest. It hunts from a perch, diving into the water mainly for fish and crustaceans. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, +0.3 EV. Hacienda El Triunfo now combines sustainable cattle ranching with research, conservation and ecotourism to protect its dry forest.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) belongs to the family Alcedinidae (Kingfishers) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List