The Story
This female Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) was photographed in flight at Birdwatch La Conchita, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, just outside the city. Her green plumage stands out against a softly blurred background, and the fast shutter held her feathers and the curve of her flight path in natural light filtering through the canopy. Adult females have some white on the throat and grayish-brown undertail coverts. The species lives in Colombia and Venezuela, and the subspecies saucerottei lives in western Colombia, including the Cauca River valley. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/750 sec, f/6.7, ISO 400, −1 EV. 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.
©2024 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) 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 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List