The Story
This Spectacled Parrotlet (Forpus conspicillatus) perched on a weathered branch near San Pablo de Borbur, in Boyacá, Colombia, with its blue wing patch and pale eye-ring visible against bright green plumage. It feeds on seeds, nuts, leaves, berries and other fruits, and it does well in open country rather than dense forest. It nests in tree cavities, often taking over holes or clay nests made by other birds, and the female incubates while the male guards the nest and feeds her.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/180 sec, f/16, ISO 1600. Near town, the Fura and Tena hills are promoted for hiking and birdwatching, and a local association runs ecological tourism there built around their ancestral legend.
©2024 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