The Story
This is a Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) that I photographed at the Otún Quimbaya Fauna and Flora Sanctuary near Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia on June 20, 2017. It ranges from southeastern Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and lives in almost any open or semi-open habitat, often near people. It copes well with towns and suburbs, including gardens and parks. Its songs have been studied closely by scientists since the 1970s. The sanctuary’s emblematic animals are the Cauca guan and the red howler monkey, and about 200 butterfly species live there.
I photographed it with a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250. IUCN lists the Rufous-collared Sparrow as Least Concern with an increasing population, and the Otún Quimbaya sanctuary, protected by Colombia’s national parks service since 1996, shelters 307 bird species.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) belongs to the family Passerellidae (New World Sparrows) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List