The Story
I photographed this Andean Motmot (Momotus aequatorialis) at the Jardín Botánico del Quindío in Calarcá, Quindío, Colombia on June 16, 2017. In Colombia it lives in all three Andean ranges, from about 1,500 to 3,100 meters. It lives mainly in humid montane forest, often near streams, and also at forest edges. It eats mainly arthropods and some fruit. The garden also looks after forest near Filandia and Circasia that is part of the Barbas-Bremen forest reserve. The garden’s main site is a research and environmental-education center in a remnant of native forest in Calarcá.
I took this with a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, at 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Andean Motmot as Least Concern with a decreasing population, and the garden’s butterfly house keeps more than 30 butterfly species native to Colombia.
©2017 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Andean Motmot (Momotus aequatorialis) belongs to the family Momotidae (Motmots) 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