The Story
On June 23, 2017, I photographed this Thick-billed Euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris) at the Malecón Cameguadua in Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia. It is a small euphonia with one of the thicker bills in its genus. Euphonias were long placed with the tanagers but are now classified in the finch family, Fringillidae. It lives at forest edges and clearings, in woodlots, farmland and gardens. Chinchiná lies 17 kilometers southwest of Manizales, at 1,360 meters, in a valley surrounded by coffee plantations.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/11, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Thick-billed Euphonia as Least Concern with a stable population, and Chinchiná is part of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Thick-billed Euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris) belongs to the family Fringillidae (Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) 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 stable. Source: IUCN Red List