The Story
I made this photo of a Spectacled Parrotlet (Forpus conspicillatus) at Hacienda El Retorno in La Chamba, Guamo, Tolima, Colombia. It prefers open habitat to dense forest. In the wild it feeds on seeds, nuts, leaves, berries, cactus and other fruits. It nests in tree cavities, often using old holes made by other birds. It lives in small flocks, but up to 100 may gather at clay licks. The female incubates while the male guards the nest and feeds her and, later, the chicks. Guamo is known as the cattle capital of Tolima, and three rivers run through the municipality: the Luisa, the Magdalena and the Saldaña.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Spectacled Parrotlet as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Spectacled Parrotlet (Forpus conspicillatus) belongs to the family Psittacidae (New World and African Parrots) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List