The Story
This Ladder-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis climacocerca) rested on a branch at the Yahuarcaca lakes outside Leticia, in Amazonas, Colombia, its pattern of browns and tans matching the bark and leaves around it. It lives along rivers and freshwater lakes and in moist shrubland across the Amazon Basin, from Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. It hunts flying insects at night, and its large eyes and wide gape suit that way of feeding. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/30 sec, f/16, ISO 6400, −1 EV. Communities on the Yahuarcaca lakes, such as San Sebastián and La Playa, manage their fishing under community agreements backed by the Conservar Paga payment-for-conservation programme.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Ladder-tailed Nightjar (Hydropsalis climacocerca) belongs to the family Caprimulgidae (Nightjars 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 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List