The Story
I photographed this Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) at La Minga Ecolodge in Dapa, near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in flight as it fed at a magenta flower. Its speckled throat and muted green plumage show while its wings blur. It lives in Andean cloud forest, and in Ecuador it ranges on both slopes of the Andes from about 1,400 to 3,000 meters. Female Speckled Hummingbirds incubate the eggs and feed the nestlings without help from males. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/750 sec, f/6.7, ISO 800. Cali, Yumbo, La Cumbre and Dagua have committed to conserving the San Antonio–Km 18 Key Biodiversity Area, the cloud forest around La Minga, along with its water sources.
©2025 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