The Story
I photographed this Southern Emerald-Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus albivitta) at Ecoparque Los Alcázares in Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. The Southern Emerald-Toucanet is found in the mountains of Colombia, Ecuador, western Venezuela, Peru and northern Bolivia. It mainly lives inside humid montane forest but also uses forest edges and more open country. In flight its wings make a whirring sound. It eats a wide variety of fruits, ground invertebrates and small vertebrates. Ecoparque Los Alcázares Arenillo protects 34 hectares of high Andean humid forest on the southwest side of Manizales, at 1,900 to 2,000 meters. IUCN lists the Southern Emerald-Toucanet as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. The ecoparque works to protect the wildlife that moves along Manizales’ natural corridors and to help restore the city’s ecological capital.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Southern Emerald-Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus albivitta) belongs to the family Ramphastidae (Toucans) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List