The Story
I made this photo of a Paramo Seedeater (Catamenia homochroa) at Los Nevados National Natural Park in Murillo, Tolima, Colombia. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Its natural habitats include moist montane forest, high-elevation shrubland and heavily degraded former forest. It lives in shrubby growth at the edges of montane forest, almost always near the tree line, mainly between 2,400 and 3,600 meters. Los Nevados was declared a national park in 1974 and protects Andean forest, páramo and glaciers on the Central Andes. Murillo, at about 3,000 meters, is the highest town in Tolima, and the western edge of the municipality takes in the peaks of Nevado del Ruiz.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Paramo Seedeater as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Paramo Seedeater (Catamenia homochroa) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers 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 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List