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 was feeding among dense foliage, holding fruit in its bill. Its soft gray body, turquoise wing patch and warm ochre crown show in the diffused light, framed by the dense foliage. It is found only in Colombia and Ecuador, where its natural habitats are humid montane forest, high-elevation shrubland and heavily degraded former forest. It belongs to Stilpnia, a genus of tanagers introduced in 2016. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/1500 sec, f/16, ISO 12800, −1 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