On June 24, 2017, I photographed this Brown-banded Antpitta (Grallaria milleri) at the Río Blanco reserve near Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. It is known only from Colombia’s Central Andes, from Caldas to Quindío on the western slope and in Tolima on the eastern slope. It lives in temperate-zone areas regrowing with Chusquea bamboo or alder after natural disturbances such as landslides. It forages on or near the ground, running and hopping. Río Blanco lies between 2,150 and 3,700 meters above sea level, with an average temperature of 11°C and about 90 percent humidity.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600. IUCN lists the Brown-banded Antpitta as Vulnerable with a decreasing population, and BirdLife International lists Río Blanco as an Important Bird Area, protected because its forest supplies about a third of the drinking water of Manizales.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Brown-banded Antpitta (Grallaria milleri) belongs to the family Grallariidae (Antpittas) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Conservation
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2022), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List