The Story
I photographed this Pale-breasted Thrush (Turdus leucomelas) at Finca Ecoturística San Javier, in the vereda Chucuní near Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile and Ecuador, and in Colombia it ranges up to about 1,800 meters. It feeds mostly on wild and cultivated fruits, taken in trees or picked up from the ground, along with some insects, worms and small lizards. Its nest is a bulky cup of moss and rootlets held together with mud. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/250 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, +1 EV. Finca San Javier began as a pig farm in 1997 and turned to ecotourism in 2017, and today it offers guided birding and aims to help conserve the tropical dry forest around it.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Pale-breasted Thrush (Turdus leucomelas) belongs to the family Turdidae (Thrushes 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