Colombian Grebe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colombian Grebe
Conservation status
Extinct  (1977)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae Genus: Podiceps Species: P. andinus
Binomial name
Podiceps andinus (Meyer de Schauensee, 1959)

The Colombian Grebe (Podiceps andinus), was a grebe found in the Bogotá wetlands in the Eastern Andes of Colombia. The species was still abundant on Lake Tota in 1945.

The decline of the Colombian grebe is attributed to wetland drainage, siltation, pesticide pollution, disruption by reed harvesting, hunting, competition, and predation of chicks by rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) (del Hoyo et al. 1992). However, the main cause of the decline is considered to be the drainage of wetlands, siltation, and subsequent eutrophication of Lake Tota, which destroyed the open, submergent Potamogeton vegetation and resulted in the formation of a dense monoculture of Elodea (Varty et al. 1986, Fjeldsa 1993, as cited in O'Donnel and Fjeldsa 1997).

By 1968 it had declined to approximately 300 birds. Only two records of this bird made in the 1970s; one seen 1972, the last confirmed record was in 1977 when three birds were seen. Intensive studies in 1981 and 1982 failed to find the species.

[edit] References

• BirdLife International (2004). Podiceps andinus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as extinct
• BirdLife Species Factsheet