The Story
I photographed this female Tyrian Metaltail (Metallura tyrianthina) at the Forest of Orchids, a private reserve in the vereda Chincé near Tabio and Tenjo, Cundinamarca, Colombia. Like the male she is bottle green above, and the tail color varies by subspecies, from violet to coppery red. Metaltails take nectar while hovering or clinging to a flower, sometimes robbing it through a hole at the base, and they catch small insects on the wing. 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 1/350 sec, f/6.7, ISO 12800. The Forest of Orchids is restoring land that was once cleared and burned, and it received Colombia’s Premio Nacional Ambiental in 2023.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Tyrian Metaltail (Metallura tyrianthina) 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