The Story
I made this photo of a Violaceous Jay (Cyanocorax violaceus) at Reserva Natural La Palmita in Trinidad, Casanare, Colombia. The Violaceous Jay feeds mainly on fruit, arthropods and eggs, and it has been seen eating lizards. Its range runs through western Brazil, the eastern half of Colombia, eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru into northern Bolivia. In Brazil it lives up to about 1,000 meters. La Palmita is a civil-society nature reserve in Trinidad that protects about 400 hectares of flooded savanna and 250 hectares of forest. IUCN lists the Violaceous Jay as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
I used a Pentax K-1 with a 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 lens for this one, at 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320. La Palmita’s research center also monitors the savanna’s birds and mammals and rehabilitates and releases wildlife rescued from illegal trafficking.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Violaceous Jay (Cyanocorax violaceus) belongs to the family Corvidae (Crows, Jays, and Magpies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List