The Story
I photographed this female Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) at Finca Ecoturística San Javier, in the vereda Chucuní near Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. She hunts by flying out from a perch to catch insects in mid-air and also takes some from the ground. The species prefers semi-open country with scattered trees and open ground. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. The species feeds mostly on insects caught in mid-air with short sallies from a perch, and sometimes from the ground.
I photographed her with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/500 sec, f/11, ISO 1600, −0.5 EV. Finca San Javier began as a pig farm in 1997 and turned to ecotourism in 2017, offering guided birding and aiming to help conserve tropical dry forest.
©2022 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