The Story
I photographed this Yellow-eared Parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) in the forests near Cajamarca, Tolima, Colombia, in October 2020. It lives among wax palms in a few areas of the Western and Central Andes of Colombia, in cloud forest at about 1,800 to 3,000 meters. Hunting and habitat loss, including the yearly cutting of wax palms for Palm Sunday, have hurt its numbers, and more than 90 percent of Colombia’s montane forest has been cleared. Its population is now increasing, partly thanks to conservation work. IUCN lists it as Vulnerable.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200. The wax palm, Colombia’s national tree, is threatened by deforestation and by the cutting of its fronds for Palm Sunday, and ProAves hands out palm seedlings to people with room to plant them.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Yellow-eared Parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) belongs to the family Psittacidae (New World and African Parrots) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List