The Story
I photographed this White-sided Flowerpiercer (Diglossa albilatera) at La Minga Ecolodge in Dapa, near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. It paused briefly on a mossy branch. Its charcoal plumage, broken only by pale flashes along its sides, picked up the diffused forest light, and the background fell away into soft greens and muted browns. This species moves quickly and often stays partly hidden in understory cover. The male is blackish slate overall except for white sides, formed by tufts at the sides of the breast and the underwing linings. It is a fairly common and widespread flowerpiercer of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18, where La Minga sits, is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©2025 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-sided Flowerpiercer (Diglossa albilatera) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2018), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List