The Story
I made this photo of a Yellow-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis) at Fincas Verdes in San Antonio, Tolima, Colombia. In Colombia it lives in all three Andean ranges, in the northeast and east of the Andes. It plucks seeds while sitting on the seed head or by bending the stalk to the ground. It is mainly a bird of grassy places, including clearings, fallow fields and weedy old pastures. In the breeding season it usually forages in pairs, and outside it, it often forms flocks that can exceed 20 birds. Males have a black head and throat, while females are warm buffy brown. San Antonio lies in southern Tolima, about 109 km from Ibagué.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800. IUCN lists the Yellow-bellied Seedeater as Least Concern.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Yellow-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis) 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 2025). Source: IUCN Red List