The Story
This juvenile Olive-gray Saltator (Saltator olivascens) was perched on a thin branch in front of a columnar cactus in Taganga, Magdalena, Colombia, on February 16, 2021. Saltators are stout-billed members of the tanager family. Adults have a white eyebrow and a white throat edged with a dark stripe. In Colombia the species lives in the north, including the Caribbean lowlands around Santa Marta, where it uses scrub, woodland edges and gardens. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5, the RF 800mm f/11 and the RF 1.4x extender at 1/90 sec, f/16, ISO 3200. The bird is perched side-on, with the ribbed green cactus filling the background. Taganga is a small fishing village next to Santa Marta, and its dry hillsides of cactus and scrub are habitat worth keeping for birds like this one.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Olive-gray Saltator (Saltator olivascens) 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