The Story
I photographed this Sunbittern (Eurypyga helias) at the Hotel Campestre Resguardos de Paz, near El Paujil, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2020. It is the only member of its family, and its closest relative is thought to be the Kagu of New Caledonia. The nominate race lives east of the Andes, from the Orinoco basin through the Amazon to the Pantanal. It lives in humid forest with an open understory, near rivers, streams and lagoons. Its plumage is finely patterned in black, gray and brown, but its spread wings show bright eyespots in red, yellow and black.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400. IUCN lists the Sunbittern as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Sunbittern (Eurypyga helias) belongs to the family Eurypygidae (Sunbittern) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List