The Story
I photographed this Masked Cardinal (Paroaria nigrogenis) at Hacienda La Cabaña, near Tauramena, Casanare, Colombia, in January 2020. Despite its name, it is a tanager and not closely related to the true cardinals. It was once lumped with the Red-capped Cardinal, from which it differs in its black ear coverts and red lower throat and upper chest. Its standing as a separate species is supported by the lack of hybrids with the Red-capped Cardinal where the two overlap in southern Venezuela. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. Tauramena was founded in 1663 by Governor Pedro Ordóñez de Vargas with Achagua people from the Upía and Cusiana rivers.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Masked Cardinal (Paroaria nigrogenis) 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 2018), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List