The Story
I made this photo of a Western Emerald (Chlorostilbon melanorhynchus) at the Jardín Botánico del Quindío in Calarcá, Quindío, Colombia, on July 17, 2018. The Western Emerald is found from the Western Andes of Colombia south into Ecuador. The male has a glittering green crown with gold highlights and a steel blue tail. The garden’s butterfly house is a large open-air vivarium, home to more than 30 butterfly species native to Colombia. IUCN includes the Western Emerald in its assessment of Chlorostilbon mellisugus, which it lists as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200. The garden opened to the public in 2000, supports itself with help from the community and partner organizations, and has been a leader in ecotourism in the region.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Western Emerald (Chlorostilbon melanorhynchus) 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 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. IUCN does not yet assess the Western Emerald separately; this is the assessment of Blue-tailed Emerald (Chlorostilbon mellisugus), which IUCN treats as including it. Source: IUCN Red List