The Story
This Boat-billed Flycatcher (Megarynchus pitangua) was at the Jardín Botánico San Jorge in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia when I photographed it. In the Amazon basin it is found mostly in the canopy of várzea forest and along the edges of lakes and rivers. It feeds mostly on insects, but also on figs, berries, seeds and small vertebrates. It usually forages in pairs or small family groups, from mid-level to the canopy. Ibagué, the capital of Tolima, sits on the Central Andes between the Combeima Canyon and the Magdalena valley, near Nevado del Tolima.
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 800, −1 EV. IUCN lists the Boat-billed Flycatcher as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Boat-billed Flycatcher (Megarynchus pitangua) 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 stable. Source: IUCN Red List