The Story
I photographed this Grayish Piculet (Picumnus granadensis) at Humedal La Samaria, near Santander de Quilichao in Cauca, Colombia. This tiny woodpecker is endemic to Colombia, where the nominate subspecies ranges from the middle and upper Cauca valley south to the upper Patía, living along forest edges, in scrub and in open woodland. It calls infrequently, with a high-pitched, weak trill on one pitch. IUCN lists it as Least Concern but notes a small range and a population believed to be decreasing.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/60 sec, f/16, ISO 3200. At La Samaria, the town’s water utility, the regional environmental authority, local foundations and residents have joined World Wetlands Day tree planting and clean-up work.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Grayish Piculet (Picumnus granadensis) belongs to the family Picidae (Woodpeckers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2018), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List