The Story
I photographed this Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) at Finca La Conchita, in the Kilómetro 18 area near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in October 2019. It is the only member of its genus and lives in Andean cloud forest, mostly between 1,000 and 2,500 meters. It is a solitary hummingbird that does not form flocks or pair bonds. Its bulky cup nest of moss and cobweb is placed on mossy trunks, rocky ridges or even at the entrance of caves. The female raises the young alone, and after brooding she perches near the nest instead of entering it. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200, −0.7 EV. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18 is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) 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), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List