Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer (Colombian Endemic) in habitat

[Dorian Anderson]

Restricted to Colombia's Western Andes, the Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer is one of roughly 80 endemic birds the country claims. A bit of playback produced
this individual at Tatamá National Park, and I was trilled to capture this in-habitat frame as the bird sang to reaffirm his territory. The light is natural, and the white
background results from clouds well below my mountainside shooting position at 8,500 feet (~2,600 meters). Fortunately, I exposed the scene correctly,
and I think the bird's colors stand out nicely against the backing green and white. There are very few good frames of this species, so I am super happy with this!


Tatamá NP above Montezuma Ecolodge, Risaralda, Colombia, 6/26/19
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS II on EOS 5D Mark IV
1/320 at f/5.6, ISO 1600

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[Dorian Anderson]

Range shown in PURPLE
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[Aditya Sridhar]

Wow! Nice catch, Dorian! I like the lighting, but personally, I find the background distracting with all the leaves. The perch takes away slightly too. I would consider pushing the bird slightly to the left because it's too centered for my taste as presented.

However, can't really complain a whole lot when it's such a rare species. Congrats on finding the bird and getting a very good shot of it!

[Moe Richard]

Pleasing image with great detail, color, and open beak pose. The bird pops well against the somewhat busy BG.

[Jack Backs]

Nice image. Too bad about the leaf bunch covering the tip of the tail. Mildly distracting.

[Dorian Anderson]

Wow! Nice catch, Dorian! I like the lighting, but personally, I find the background distracting with all the leaves. The perch takes away slightly too. I would consider pushing the bird slightly to the left because it's too centered for my taste as presented.

However, can't really complain a whole lot when it's such a rare species. Congrats on finding the bird and getting a very good shot of it!

Yeah, the BG is busy for me as well, so I presented this mostly for educational purposes. Agree the bird is centered, but the frame gets too white if I shift the crop left. So, it is what it is, Cheers!

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Dorian. Yes, I agree that the BG is distracting, but it's always a great feeling to get a sought after bird. Looking back at the many photos I've taken in the past (before joining this forum) I have so many with similar backgrounds that I thought were good...now I see why the BG is so important. Cheers.

[John Mack]

Nice calling pose on the bird, nice and sharp as well. The background is what it is. Nice you included the map. How do you go about using audio?