The Story
I photographed this Sooty-capped Hermit (Phaethornis augusti) at the Finca Ecoturística Canaguaros, near Tauramena, Casanare, Colombia, in January 2020. Its nominate subspecies lives in Venezuela’s Coastal Range and eastern Andes and south along the eastern slope of Colombia’s Eastern Andes. It is grayish brown above with a rufous rump, and its face has a black mask set off by a white eyebrow and throat stripe. Like other hermits, it feeds by trap-lining, visiting a regular circuit of flowers for nectar. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200. Tauramena was founded in 1663 by Governor Pedro Ordóñez de Vargas with Achagua people from the Upía and Cusiana rivers.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Sooty-capped Hermit (Phaethornis augusti) belongs to the family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2018), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List