The Story
I photographed this Brown Violetear (Colibri delphinae) at Finca La Conchita, in the Kilómetro 18 area near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in October 2019. It is highly aggressive, and at feeders it seems to spend more time attacking other hummingbirds than feeding. It is mainly dull brown with a rufous rump, a violet patch behind the eye and a glittering green and blue throat stripe. Breeding males sing a vigorous repetition of their chit call in loose leks of up to several dozen birds. It breeds in forest at middle elevations, between 400 and 1,600 meters, and wanders into the lowlands when not nesting. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, −0.7 EV. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18 is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©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