The Story
I photographed this Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) at the Kairi Lodge Natural Reserve, near Manizales, Caldas, Colombia, in February 2020. This small nectar feeder lives in the warmer parts of the Americas and is rare above 2,000 meters. Its slender, curved bill is made for taking nectar, and it also pierces fruit for its juice and eats small insects. It is nicknamed the sugar bird because it comes to feeders stocked with sugar. It breeds all year, building round nests with a side entrance. 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 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200. Destino Caldas counts 142 bird species on Kairi’s single hectare, where gardens are planted to draw hummingbirds.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List