The Story
I photographed this Brown Violetear (Colibri delphinae) at Finca Alejandría at Km 18 above Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. The Brown Violetear breeds in forest between 400 and 1,600 meters but spreads widely into the lowlands when not nesting. It feeds on nectar from small flowers of trees, shrubs and epiphytes. Finca Alejandría sits in cloud forest at Km 18 on the road from Cali to Buenaventura, and it is an eBird hotspot with more than 340 bird species recorded, about 40 of them hummingbirds. IUCN lists the Brown Violetear as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, +1 EV. The finca has run as a birdwatching ecotourism project for more than twenty years, and visitors’ support helps keep its feeders stocked with bananas, sugar and water.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Brown Violetear (Colibri delphinae) belongs to the family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List