The Story
This Andean Emerald (Uranomitra franciae) was photographed at Birdwatch La Conchita, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, at about 1,950 meters. Males have a glittering violet-blue crown and golden-green to emerald cheeks, with a white center to the underparts. Its cup nest is built from tree-fern scales and plant fibers, bound with spiderweb and covered outside with lichen. It lives in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, mostly above 1,000 meters, and besides nectar it catches insects in short flights from a perch. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/1000 sec, f/6.7, ISO 1600, −1 EV. Cali, Yumbo, La Cumbre and Dagua have committed to conserving the San Antonio–Km 18 Key Biodiversity Area, its forest and its water sources.
©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