The Story
This Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans) hovered to feed at a pink fuchsia flower near Roncesvalles, a highland municipality in Tolima, Colombia. It is a highly vocal and territorial hummingbird of the Andean highlands, living in many kinds of semi-open country, including gardens and parks in large cities, and it is often the most common hummingbird in its range. It lives mostly between 1,000 and 4,500 meters, and its cup nest of soft plant material is decorated outside with lichens.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/1000 sec, f/11, ISO 1600. Roncesvalles holds a yearly Yellow-eared Parrot festival with environmental writing and painting contests and the planting of native trees, including wax palms.
©2025 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans) 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 2024). Source: IUCN Red List