The Story
I photographed this female White-booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii) at Finca La Florida, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, at about 2,000 meters, in February 2021. Both sexes have the white leg puffs that give it its name, but only the male has the long outer tail feathers ending in rackets. It lives in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela and favors the edges of humid forest. It is most numerous between 1,600 and 2,200 meters, and several often feed close together. 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 1/3000 sec, f/6.7, ISO 800, −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.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii) 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