The Story
This juvenile Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) perched briefly on a pale branch at La Minga Ecolodge in Dapa, near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in soft, evenly diffused forest light. Its green plumage shows the early stages of the change toward the brighter blue tones of an adult male, and the yellow along its bill stands out against the smooth background. It moved quickly between branches before stepping into open light. The species lives from southern Mexico to Brazil and on Trinidad, and it feeds mainly on fruit, with some nectar and arthropods. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/350 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. La Minga sits in the cloud forest of the Kilometer 18 area, about an hour from Cali.
©2025 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