The Story
I photographed this Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) at Beraca Charco Indio, near San José del Guaviare, Guaviare, Colombia, in February 2021. It watches from a prominent open perch, often high in a tree, and makes long, acrobatic flights to catch insects in mid-air, including beetles, bees, wasps, termites, butterflies and dragonflies. It also eats some berries and fruit. The sexes look alike, but young birds have pale buff edges on the wing coverts. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/750 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, −1 EV. Visitors to Beraca Charco Indio can plant a tree on the farm’s Sendero de la Reconciliación, give it a name and receive photos of it as it grows.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) belongs to the family Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2022), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List