The Story
I photographed this female Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) at the Lost City of Falan, the ruins of the Spanish Reales Minas de Santa Ana in the humid forest of Falan, Tolima, Colombia. She perched on a branch, her brown plumage blending with the green foliage. Females are warm brown above with faint darker streaks, very different from the glossy blue-black males. The male’s repeated jumping display, with a wheezing call at each leap, earned the species the local name johnny jump-up. It lives in shrubby, weedy fields, field edges and roadsides from Mexico through South America. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed her with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/60 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, +0.5 EV. The ruins of the 17th-century silver mines sit along a forest trail of about 5 kilometers, which local guides use for walks and birding.
©2024 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) 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 increasing. Source: IUCN Red List