The Story
I photographed this female Red-headed Barbet (Eubucco bourcierii) along the Trampolín de la Muerte, the mountain road above Mocoa, Putumayo, Colombia. The species is found from Costa Rica to Peru, usually between 400 and 2,400 meters, though this varies a great deal by region. It eats insects such as caterpillars, along with fruit such as berries. Its clutch is two to five eggs, and both sexes incubate during the day. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. Males have a red head, an orange to yellow breast and a white collar separating the head from the olive-green back.
I photographed her with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/2000 sec, f/16, ISO 6400, −1 EV. The road from San Francisco to Mocoa opened in 1944 and runs between about 600 and 2,800 meters.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Red-headed Barbet (Eubucco bourcierii) belongs to the family Capitonidae (New World Barbets) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List