The Story
I photographed this Blue-necked Tanager (Stilpnia cyanicollis) at La Esmeralda Hostal, in the vereda Pastales near Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia, in October 2019. It has a blue hood and throat, with turquoise to straw-green wing coverts and rump. Fruit is its main food, along with berries, flower blossoms and insects picked from leaves. The female builds a well-hidden cup nest of moss, and both parents feed the chicks, sometimes with help from other birds. Incubation takes 13 to 14 days, and the chicks fledge after 15 to 16 days. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200. A Universidad de Ibagué project worked with private reserves around Ibagué to set up birdwatching, with trails and feeders.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Blue-necked Tanager (Stilpnia cyanicollis) 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. Source: IUCN Red List