The Story
I photographed this Apolinar’s Wren (Cistothorus apolinari) at El Desaguadero on Lago de Tota, near Aquitania, Boyacá, Colombia, at about 3,020 meters. It is endemic to the Andes of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, where it lives in marshes and lake-edge vegetation, especially cattails and bulrushes. It feeds mainly on Chironomus midges, along with spiders and other insects. Its nest is a ball of cattail strips placed in a thick stand. IUCN lists it as Endangered. The male sings rising and falling churrs mixed with harsh, gravelly notes.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/11, ISO 800, +1 EV. Lago de Tota is the largest lake in Colombia, and it is the source of the Upía River, which flows into the Orinoco basin.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Apolinar’s Wren (Cistothorus apolinari) belongs to the family Troglodytidae (Wrens) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Endangered on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List