The Story
I photographed this Scrub Tanager (Stilpnia vitriolina) at Hacienda Guadalajara in La Buitrera, Palmira, near the Pradera line in Valle del Cauca, Colombia. It paused on a weathered tree stump. Its muted gray body contrasts with the turquoise wing panel and warm rufous crown, colors that show best in soft, filtered light, and it stood in a calm, alert pose against the green forest behind. The Scrub Tanager is found only in Colombia and Ecuador, in humid montane forest, high-elevation shrubland and heavily degraded former forest. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/250 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Hacienda Guadalajara lies on the western flank of the Cordillera Central.
©2026 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Scrub Tanager (Stilpnia vitriolina) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers and Allies) 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