Crimson-backed Tanager

The Story

I made this photo of a Crimson-backed Tanager (Ramphocelus dimidiatus) at Entreaguas Reserva Natural in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. It takes most food while hopping through foliage and also visits feeders for fruit. It often roosts in flocks that can number more than 50 birds. It feeds mostly in the undergrowth and up to middle levels at the forest edge. In the breeding season it forages in pairs or family groups, and in flocks at other times. Entreaguas is one of the civil-society reserves of Ibagué’s nature tourism network, set in premontane humid forest at about 1,050 to 1,300 meters.

I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400, −1 EV. IUCN lists the Crimson-backed Tanager as Least Concern, with a stable population.

The bird

The Crimson-backed Tanager (Ramphocelus dimidiatus) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers 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 2021), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List