The Story
This White-vented Plumeleteer (Chalybura buffonii) perched on a slender branch in filtered sunlight at Finca Ecoturística San Javier, in the vereda Chucuní near Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. Its iridescent green plumage and the white vent that gives it its name stand out against the green of the forest. The species ranges from Panama to Peru, from sea level up to about 2,000 meters, and it seems able to tolerate some habitat disturbance. Its estimated population of at least 500,000 mature individuals is thought to be decreasing. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/250 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Finca San Javier began as a pig farm in 1997 and turned to ecotourism in 2017, and today it offers guided birding and aims to help conserve the tropical dry forest around it.
©2024 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-vented Plumeleteer (Chalybura buffonii) 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 2022), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List