The Story
I photographed this juvenile Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) at Finca Ecoturística San Javier, in the vereda Chucuní near Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. The species feeds mostly on insects caught in mid-air with short sallies from a perch, and sometimes from the ground. Vermilion flycatchers are generally solitary and spend most of their time perched in trees, rarely landing on the ground. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. The species prefers semi-open country with scattered trees and open ground.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/350 sec, f/16, ISO 1600. Finca San Javier began as a pig farm in 1997 and turned to ecotourism in 2017, and today it offers guided birding and aims to help conserve the tropical dry forest around it.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) belongs to the family Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers) 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 increasing. Source: IUCN Red List