The Story
This White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) was at Spa Ambiental Turística Los Alpes in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia when I photographed it. Several may feed in one tree and chase each other, but otherwise they are seldom territorial. The male has a dark blue head and chest with a white belly and tail. It usually lives from sea level to about 900 meters. It feeds on nectar at the flowers of tall trees, epiphytes, shrubs and Heliconia. Los Alpes is one of the civil-society reserves of Ibagué’s nature tourism network, a small property in tropical dry forest at about 950 meters.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600. IUCN lists the White-necked Jacobin as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) 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 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List