The Story
This Black-collared Hawk (Busarellus nigricollis) perched among dense foliage beside Lago Tarapoto, near Puerto Nariño, in Amazonas, Colombia, its rufous body and pale head standing out against the green. It is the only member of its genus and, unusually for a hawk, lives mainly on fish, also taking water bugs, snails, frogs, lizards and small mammals. It usually nests in a large tree, often near water, and sometimes in shade trees on coffee farms or in suburban areas. 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 1/250 sec, f/16, ISO 1600, −1 EV. The nearby Lagos de Tarapoto became a Ramsar wetland of international importance in 2018, and the Ticuna, Cocama and Yagua communities around them keep agreements on responsible fishing.
©2024 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black-collared Hawk (Busarellus nigricollis) belongs to the family Accipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List