The Story
I photographed this Andean Emerald (Uranomitra franciae) at Avistamiento de Aves Doña Dora, in Dagua, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in February 2020. It lives in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, between 600 and 2,100 meters, and is most common above 1,000 meters. Besides nectar, it catches insects by flying out from a perch. Its cup nest is made of tree-fern scales and plant fibers bound with spider web. The female incubates two eggs for 19 to 24 days, and the young fledge 16 to 22 days after hatching. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, −1 EV. More than 500 bird species are recorded along the Anchicayá route, including 4 endemic and 10 threatened species.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Andean Emerald (Uranomitra franciae) belongs to the family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List