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. This one belongs to the nominate subspecies of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, in Colombia’s Eastern Andes. It is found locally in Chusquea bamboo and appears to tolerate disturbed habitat. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. It is assumed to eat insects, but little is known about its diet. In Colombia it is often found near rock faces, and it also eats berries.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/6.7, ISO 12800. The Forest of Orchids is restoring land that was once cleared and burned, and it received Colombia’s Premio Nacional Ambiental in 2023.
©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