The Story
This female Purple-throated Woodstar (Philodice mitchellii) was photographed at Birdwatch La Conchita, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, at about 1,950 meters. Females have a buffy white throat with dusky speckles at the sides, a white band below it, a green lower breast, a rufous belly, and a downward-curving white line behind the eye. The species lives in eastern Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, from sea level to 2,400 meters, and is most numerous above 1,000 meters. It builds a tiny cup nest of fine fibers and spiderweb high on a thick branch. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L for this one, at 1/750 sec, f/6.7, ISO 1600. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18 is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Purple-throated Woodstar (Philodice mitchellii) 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 2022), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List