The Story
I photographed this Red-billed Emerald (Chlorostilbon gibsoni) in the vereda Chapacual, near Yacuanquer in Nariño, Colombia. The male is mostly malachite green, with a slightly bluer, forked tail and, as its name says, a red bill. The species lives in Colombia and Venezuela, mostly in dry, open country such as desert scrub, dry woodland, farms, parks and gardens, and in Colombia it is usually found below 500 meters. It forages for nectar by trap-lining, visiting a circuit of flowering plants, usually close to the ground. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/250 sec, f/11, ISO 1600. In the vereda Chapacual, 35 farm families grow coffee and keep agroecological gardens together with the Asociación para el Desarrollo Campesino.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Red-billed Emerald (Chlorostilbon gibsoni) belongs to the family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) 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