The Story
This Orange-bellied Euphonia (Euphonia xanthogaster) perched quietly on a smooth, pale branch at La Minga Ecolodge in Dapa, near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, showing deep blue upperparts against a yellow belly. The soft, overcast light of these Andean foothills rendered even color, and the forest behind fell away into a gentle green wash. Males have a deep yellow forehead patch, glossy blue-black upperparts and a purplish black throat. It feeds mainly on small fruits, with some arthropods, and builds a domed nest of grass and moss with a side entrance. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 for this one, at 1/350 sec, f/11, ISO 6400, −0.5 EV. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18, where La Minga sits, is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©2025 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Orange-bellied Euphonia (Euphonia xanthogaster) belongs to the family Fringillidae (Finches, Euphonias, 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 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List