The Story
I photographed this Blue-capped Manakin (Lepidothrix coronata) at the Reserva Natural El Danubio, near Morelia, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2020. It lives in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. Young males take until the end of their third year to gain full adult plumage. Territorial males give an advertisement call that sounds like chi-wrr, and a contact call, swee, used by both sexes. Their territories range from about 200 to 5,000 square meters. 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 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400. Its founder and manager, Iván Salazar, invites families to come and learn about regenerative tourism, plant a tree and enjoy the clear waters of the Bodoquero, Hacha and Pescado rivers.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Blue-capped Manakin (Lepidothrix coronata) belongs to the family Pipridae (Manakins) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List