The Story
I photographed this Lesser Violetear (Colibri cyanotus) at the Reserva Forestal El Palmar, near Villa Restrepo in the Cañón del Combeima above Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. It lives in the canopy and edges of subtropical and lower temperate forest, in secondary woodland and in clearings, mostly between 1,500 and 3,300 meters. It feeds on nectar and small insects and often holds and defends a feeding territory. Its song is a sharp, dry tsu-tzeek repeated about once a second. Its small cup nest is woven from plant material, spiderweb and down.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 for this one, at 1/350 sec, f/11, ISO 3200. The Cañón del Combeima is a birding and ecotourism area that climbs from Ibagué toward Los Nevados National Natural Park.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Lesser Violetear (Colibri cyanotus) belongs to the family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) 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. IUCN does not yet assess the Lesser Violetear separately; this is the assessment of Green Violetear (Colibri thalassinus), which IUCN treats as including it. Source: IUCN Red List