The Story
This White-chinned Jacamar (Galbula tombacea) perched near La Macarena, in Meta, Colombia, in Colombia’s Meta department, at the northern end of its range east of the Andes. It perches alone or in pairs on exposed branches and sallies out to catch flying insects, and so far bees and wasps are the only prey recorded for it. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, often along watercourses in the lowlands, up to about 1,200 meters.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/125 sec, f/16, ISO 1600, −1.5 EV. La Macarena lies where Colombia’s Andean, Amazonian and Orinoco regions meet, and tourism to nearby Caño Cristales is run through local associations of guides and boat operators.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-chinned Jacamar (Galbula tombacea) belongs to the family Galbulidae (Jacamars) 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