The Story
This Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) was photographed at Villa de Aurora near Dapa, in the hills above Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, at about 1,980 meters. Males are turquoise-green with a black hood, and both sexes have a yellow bill. The species lives in the tropical New World from southern Mexico to Brazil and on Trinidad. It feeds mainly in the canopy, coming lower at forest edges, and its diet is mostly fruit, with some nectar and small arthropods. It is one of the honeycreepers in the tanager family. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L for this one, at 1/1500 sec, f/6.7, ISO 1600, −0.5 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.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List