The Story
I photographed this Crested Oropendola (Psarocolius decumanus) at Pozos La Chorrera, near Acacías, Meta, Colombia, in January 2020. It is described as the commonest and most widespread oropendola, found from Costa Rica to most of South America. Both sexes have a large ivory bill and blue eyes, and males carry a crest of long nape feathers. It eats mostly fruit, insects and spiders, with some tree frogs and nectar. It nests in colonies, and the female weaves a hanging, open-topped bag nest of plant fibers.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/3200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400. For now, IUCN lists the Crested Oropendola as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Crested Oropendola (Psarocolius decumanus) belongs to the family Icteridae (Troupials and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List