The Story
I photographed this Red-ruffed Fruitcrow (Pyroderus scutatus) at the Otún Quimbaya Flora and Fauna Sanctuary near Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. The Red-ruffed Fruitcrow lives in humid forest, especially in the highlands, and also along forest borders. In Colombia and Venezuela it lives in the Andes. Its nest is a shallow, open cup of twigs lined with fern fronds. The Santuario de Fauna y Flora Otún Quimbaya lies in the Central Andes of Risaralda, and its vegetation is typical of Andean humid forest. IUCN lists the Red-ruffed Fruitcrow as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 8000. Yarumo Blanco’s local guides are young people from the villages around La Florida, and its Los Yarumitos group trains children as the next guardians of the upper Otún River basin.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Red-ruffed Fruitcrow (Pyroderus scutatus) belongs to the family Cotingidae (Cotingas) 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