The Story
I photographed this Pied Plover (Hoploxypterus cayanus) from the Ferry Marcopolo on the Orteguaza River at Puerto Arango, near Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2020. Its species name refers to Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana. Its call sounds like kee-oo, and in display flights it flies in an undulating pattern while giving repeated klee calls. It eats mainly insects and snails. It nests on the ground in an unlined scrape and covers its eggs with sand when it leaves. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, −0.3 EV. The Ferry Marcopolo leaves from Puerto Arango, about 15 kilometers from Florencia, on a two-hour trip on the Orteguaza River, passing the mouth of the Hacha River and stopping at a sandbar for lunch.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Pied Plover (Hoploxypterus cayanus) belongs to the family Charadriidae (Plovers and Lapwings) 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