The Story
This Western Emerald (Chlorostilbon melanorhynchus) was photographed at Birdwatch La Conchita, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, at about 1,950 meters. It is found from the Western Andes of Colombia south into Ecuador. The male has an iridescent green forehead and crown with gold highlights, shining bronzy green upperparts and a steel-blue tail, and 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 and readily uses man-made habitat.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/6.7, ISO 1600, +0.5 EV. Cali, Yumbo, La Cumbre and Dagua have committed to conserving the San Antonio–Km 18 Key Biodiversity Area, its forest and its water sources.
©2023 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