The Story
I photographed this Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) near Aquitania, Boyacá, Colombia, at about 3,020 meters. His grayish-blue head and white facial crescent mark him as a male. The species breeds across North America and winters south to Central and South America, as far as Brazil and central Chile. It prefers shorelines and calm water to open water. The female is mottled brown, with a whitish area at the base of the bill. 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 1/500 sec, f/16, ISO 3200. Lago de Tota is the largest lake in Colombia, and it is the source of the Upía River, which flows into the Orinoco basin.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) belongs to the family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl) 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