The Story
I photographed this Andean Motmot (Momotus aequatorialis) at the Reserva Natural Municipal Cerro Munchique Los Tigres, near Santander de Quilichao in Cauca, Colombia. A bird of humid montane forest, often near streams, it occurs in all three of Colombia’s Andean ranges and eats mainly arthropods, along with some fruit. It also uses forest edges and secondary forest. In Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia it lives only on the eastern side of the Andes. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/60 sec, f/16, ISO 6400, +1 EV. The mayor’s office calls Munchique Los Tigres one of northern Cauca’s largest natural treasures and one of the main birding sites in Santander de Quilichao.
©2022 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