The Story
I photographed this Black-capped Tanager (Stilpnia heinei) at Finca Alejandría, known as El Paraíso de los Colibríes, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, where dappled light filtered through the canopy. Its blue-green plumage and black cap show well. The male’s black crown extends to the lores, forehead and upper nape, while the female has a dusky, green-edged crown that looks slightly scaly. It lives year-round in the mountains of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, often in open country, alone or in pairs, staying under the branches of trees and bushes. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/250 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Finca Alejandría sits at Kilometer 18 on the road from Cali to Buenaventura.
©2024 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black-capped Tanager (Stilpnia heinei) 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 2018), with the population trend listed as stable (listed by IUCN as Tangara heinei). Source: IUCN Red List