Steely-vented Hummingbird

The Story

This Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) was photographed at Finca La Florida, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, at about 1,950 meters. Adult males are golden green above and glittering golden green below, with greenish to steel-blue undertail coverts. Females have some white on the throat and grayish-brown undertail coverts. The species lives in Colombia and Venezuela. The subspecies saucerottei is found in western Colombia, including the Cauca River valley. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.

I used a Canon R5 with the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L for this one, at 1/4000 sec, f/6.7, ISO 3200, −0.5 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.

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