The Story
I made this photo of a female Long-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus kingii) at Ukuku Rural Lodge in Juntas, Tolima, Colombia. It lives between about 900 and 3,000 meters and has a complex pattern of movements. It feeds on nectar and insects, usually hovering at flowers but sometimes clinging to them or piercing the base of a flower to rob nectar. It catches insects by flying out from a perch. The male builds the nest, a bulky dome of moss and plant fibers with a side entrance. Juntas is a rural district of Ibagué in the Combeima Canyon, a buffer zone of Los Nevados National Natural Park where more than 300 bird species have been recorded.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400. IUCN lists the Long-tailed Sylph as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Long-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus kingii) 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 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List