The Story
This Forest Elaenia (Myiopagis gaimardii) was perched on a pale branch against a blue sky at Hotel Waka Rural in Honda, Tolima, Colombia, on June 18, 2019. It is a small tyrant flycatcher, olive above, with a grayish head, yellowish wing bars and a pale yellow belly. In Colombia it is found in lowland forest and forest edges, where it usually forages for small insects high in the trees. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm at 450mm, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100. The bird is turned to the left, with a few fresh green leaves beside it on the branch. Rural hotels like Waka Rural, in the warm Magdalena valley around Honda, give visitors a quiet base for seeing the birds that live in the trees around them.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Forest Elaenia (Myiopagis gaimardii) 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 2025), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List