The Story
I photographed this Wire-tailed Manakin (Pipra filicauda) at Reserva Natural La Palmita in Trinidad, Casanare, Colombia. The male’s tail filaments add about 4 centimeters to its length. In Colombia and Ecuador it lives up to about 500 meters. It is a year-round resident that feeds mainly on small fruits and also insects. It plucks fruit while perched or with short flights from a perch. La Palmita is a civil-society nature reserve in Trinidad that protects about 400 hectares of flooded savanna and 250 hectares of forest. IUCN lists the Wire-tailed Manakin as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000. La Palmita’s research center also monitors the savanna’s birds and mammals and rehabilitates and releases wildlife rescued from illegal trafficking.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Wire-tailed Manakin (Pipra filicauda) belongs to the family Pipridae (Manakins) 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