The Story
I photographed this female White-lined Tanager (Tachyphonus rufus) at the Reserva Natural Municipal Cerro Munchique Los Tigres, near Santander de Quilichao in Cauca, Colombia. Females and young birds are entirely rufous, while the adult male is glossy black with white underwing coverts that show mainly in flight. In the breeding season the male displays those white patches by opening and closing his wings in front of the female. These are restless but unwary birds that eat a wide variety of fruit. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/60 sec, f/16, ISO 3200. Santander de Quilichao’s mayor’s office promotes the town as “la ciudad de las aves,” the city of birds, and has held a yearly bird festival since 2020.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-lined Tanager (Tachyphonus rufus) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers 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 2021), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List