The Story
This female Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) was at La Huerta Hotel at Lago Calima, in Yotoco, Valle del Cauca, Colombia when I photographed it. Males have bright red crowns, chests and underparts with brownish wings and tails, while females lack the vivid red. It prefers riverside and semi-open habitats. It catches insects in flight. Females build a shallow open cup nest and incubate the eggs, and the male feeds the female during incubation. Lago Calima is a reservoir of about 19 square kilometers, built for a hydroelectric project and later taken over by the regional environmental agency, the CVC. IUCN lists the Vermilion Flycatcher as Least Concern, with an increasing population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200, −1 EV. Nearby, the Bosque de Yotoco forest reserve protects 1,425 hectares that supply water to Yotoco and more than ten rural aqueducts.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) belongs to the family Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers) 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 increasing. Source: IUCN Red List