The Story
I photographed this Black-headed Saltator (Saltator atriceps) in the Microcuenca La Hondura, the forested watershed just west of Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras. It lives from Mexico through Central America, up to about 1,900 meters in the north of its range. It eats fruits, seeds and insects with some flowers and buds, and it forages at all levels in small groups that sometimes join mixed flocks. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/30 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, +0.5 EV. The municipality protects La Hondura with reforestation, fire patrols and watch against illegal logging, and the COAS Copán club birds there regularly.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black-headed Saltator (Saltator atriceps) 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