The Story
I photographed this Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica) in the Cincinati area above Minca, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia. The species is found from Belize and Guatemala to far northern Peru. It feeds on nectar from many kinds of flowering plants, mostly at epiphytes, large herbs, shrubs and small trees rather than big trees, and it tends to feed in covered spots. It also eats small arthropods. Males are 9.5 to 11.5 centimeters long. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/250 sec, f/6.7, ISO 1600. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated range, separate from the Andes, that rises to 5,700 meters just 42 kilometers from the Caribbean coast.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica) 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 2023), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List