The Story
I photographed this Western Emerald (Chlorostilbon melanorhynchus) at Finca La Florida, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, at about 2,000 meters, in February 2021. It is found from the Western Andes of Colombia south into Ecuador. The male has an iridescent green forehead and crown with gold highlights and a steel-blue tail, while the female has a blackish face with a pale gray spot behind the eye. It usually feeds at fairly low levels. The IUCN has not assessed it separately from the Blue-tailed Emerald, and it is fairly common across its range.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/350 sec, f/6.7, ISO 800, −0.5 EV. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18 is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©2022 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