The Story
I photographed this Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) at the Hotel Campestre Resguardos de Paz, near El Paujil, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2020. It ranges from southwest Oregon and California through Central and South America, and it is always found near water. It waits on a perch, then sallies out to catch insects in the air. It builds an open cup nest under a cliff or a bridge and cements it in place with mud. It has a habit of wagging and fanning its tail.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200. Most of El Paujil’s people are settlers, or the children of settlers, who came mainly from Huila and Tolima.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) belongs to the family Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers) 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 increasing. Source: IUCN Red List