The Story
I photographed this Santa Marta Brushfinch (Atlapetes melanocephalus) in the Vista Nieve area above Minca, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia, at about 1,535 meters. It is endemic to the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of far northern Colombia and lives there year-round. Its diet and foraging behavior have not been studied in detail, but it often leads mixed-species flocks. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. It mostly ranges between 1,500 and 3,200 meters.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/2000 sec, f/6.7, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. The Sierra Nevada is the highest coastal range in the tropics, and its roughly 17,000 square kilometers feed 36 rivers across Magdalena, Cesar and La Guajira.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Santa Marta Brushfinch (Atlapetes melanocephalus) 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 2025), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List