The Story
This is a Green Hermit (Phaethornis guy) that I photographed at the Jardín Botánico del Quindío in Calarcá, Quindío, Colombia on July 17, 2018. The male is mainly dark green with a blue-green rump, a dark mask through the eye and a long, curved reddish bill. It lives in forest undergrowth, usually near water, and prefers hilly country, favoring primary rainforest and wet premontane forest. Males display at communal leks, wiggling the white-tipped central tail feathers. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. The garden’s main site is a research and environmental-education center in a remnant of native forest in Calarcá.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW, at 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 16000. The garden is a nonprofit foundation that has been a leader in ecotourism in the region since it opened, and visitors help keep it running.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Green Hermit (Phaethornis guy) 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 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List