The Laguna de Sonso Nature Reserve is located in the Valle del Cauca Department of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. It contains the last extensive remnant of original natural wetland remaining in the Cauca River Valley in western Colombia, and was declared a nature reserve in October 1978. It comprises a series of marshes and lagoons on the east bank of the

Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangue in Bolivar Department, and th ...

, between the municipalities of

Buga Buga may refer to: Places * Mount Buga, an inactive volcano in Zamboanga del Sur province, the Philippines * Buga (barangay), a barangay in San Miguel Municipality, Bulacan, Philippines * Buga, Valle del Cauca, city and municipality in the Colom ...

, Yotoco and Guacari. It has an area of , lying at an altitude of . The wetlands are affected by the introduced water hyacinth. The reserve has been designated as a protected

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Fauna

Birds recorded from the reserve include the fulvous whistling duck, blue-winged teal, osprey,

wattled jacana The wattled jacana (''Jacana jacana'') is a wader which is a resident breeder from western Panama and Trinidad south through most of South America east of the Andes. Breeding The wattled jacana lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating n ...

black-necked stilt The black-necked stilt (''Himantopus mexicanus'') is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexic ...

, cocoi heron, striated heron, anhinga and neotropic cormorant. Of special interest are the

grayish piculet The greyish piculet (''Picumnus granadensis'') is a species of bird in subfamily Picumninae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is endemic to Colombia. Taxonomy and systematics The greyish piculet has two described subspecies, the nominate ...

, apical flycatcher, bar-crested antshrike and the

scrub tanager The scrub tanager (''Stilpnia vitriolina'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubla ...

. The reserve also supports the only remaining population of the horned screamer in the region. Mammals found there include common opossum,

Pallas's long-tongued bat Pallas's long-tongued bat (''Glossophaga soricina'') is a South and Central American bat with a fast metabolism that feeds on nectar. Metabolism It has the fastest metabolism ever recorded in a mammal, similar to those of hummingbirds. Althou ...

, common vampire bat,

tapeti The common tapeti (''Sylvilagus brasiliensis''), also known as the Brazilian cottontail, forest cottontail, or (formerly) simply tapeti is a species of cottontail rabbit. It is small to medium-sized with a small, dark tail, short hind feet, and s ...

capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

, and nine-banded armadillo. There are also cane toads and

common snapping turtle The common snapping turtle (''Chelydra serpentina'') is a species of large freshwater turtle in the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia ...

s, as well as several native and introduced fish species which provide the basis of a local fishing industry, including the native ''

Prochilodus magdalenae ''Prochilodus magdalenae'' is a tropical prochilodontid freshwater fish from Colombia. It is found in the Atrato, Sinú, Cauca and Magdalena Rivers. It has been measured to reach in standard length and in weight. They have a growing role in ...

'' which uses the wetlands for spawning.

References

* * {{Protected areas of Colombia, state=expanded Nature reserves in Colombia Protected areas established in 1978 1978 establishments in Colombia Birdwatching sites Geography of Valle del Cauca Department Ramsar sites in Colombia