The Story
I photographed this female Thick-billed Euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris) at Entreaguas Reserva Natural, near Coello in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia, at 1,187 meters. Females are olive above and yellow below, without the male’s glossy blue-black and bright yellow. At about 10 centimeters long, it has one of the thicker bills of all euphonias. It lives from Costa Rica south to Bolivia and Brazil and feeds mainly on mistletoe and other small fruits, usually in pairs or small groups. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. The species is a year-round resident.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/11, ISO 6400. Entreaguas, in the Coello–Cocora area of Ibagué, offers ecological walks and birdwatching tours.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Thick-billed Euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris) belongs to the family Fringillidae (Finches, Euphonias, 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 2020), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List