The Story
I photographed this Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) in the Cincinati area above Minca, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia, at about 1,480 meters. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela, mostly from sea level to about 1,500 meters. Little is known about its feeding habits or diet. It was long placed in the genus Amazilia, and adult males have greenish to steel-blue undertail coverts. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. Females have some white on the throat and grayish-brown undertail coverts.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/750 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated range, separate from the Andes, that rises to 5,700 meters just 42 kilometers from the Caribbean coast.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) 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 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List