The Story
I photographed this Pale-bellied Tapaculo (Scytalopus griseicollis) at the Forest of Orchids, a private reserve in the vereda Chincé near Tabio and Tenjo, Cundinamarca, Colombia. It lives in the Eastern Andes of Colombia and nearby Venezuela, and the nominate subspecies is found in Cundinamarca and Boyacá. Locally it lives in Chusquea bamboo, and it seems to tolerate disturbed and broken-up habitat. It is assumed to eat insects, but little is known about its diet. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/250 sec, f/6.7, ISO 12800. The reserve sits at about 2,700 meters, keeps an orchid collection and a hummingbird garden, and is listed as a green business by the regional environmental authority, CAR.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Pale-bellied Tapaculo (Scytalopus griseicollis) belongs to the family Rhinocryptidae (Tapaculos) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List