The lagoon is one of the only remaining wetlands in the Cauca Valley and one of Colombia’s best wetland birding localities. Unfortunately, 80% of the entire valley has been converted to a monoculture of sugar cane plantations, with the protected Sonso Lagoon encompassing 1900 acres of the 4500 acres of wetland left in the entire valley.

    The wetland is a true gem, teeming with aquatic birds. We will search the waters for Wattled Jacana, Anhinga, Little Blue, Cocoi and Striated Herons, Snowy Egret, Bare-faced and Glossy Ibises, Fulvous and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Cinnamon Teal, Osprey, Snail Kite, Black-necked Stilt, Neotropic Cormorant, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, and Spotted and Least Sandpipers. Rare species we might come across include Pinnated Bittern, Apical Flycatcher, Roseate Spoonbill, Ruby Topaz and Horned Screamer.

    Along riparian areas it is possible we see Southern Lapwing, Greater Ani, Ringed Kingfisher, Northern-Crested and Yellow-headed Caracara, Spot-breasted Woodpecker, Southern Beardless and Mouse-coloured Tyrannulets, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, Grey and Ruddy-breasted Seedeaters, Blue-black Grassquit, and Cinereous Becard.
In nearby oxbows (called madres viejas in Colombia) we will also be able to observe the attractive Jet Antbird, Orange-crowned Euphonia, and Slate-headed Tody-Flycatchers. After a long morning of birding (in hot weather) we will have lunch at a nearby restaurant that has the best “sancocho” (typical Colombian soup) in the region. The Sonso Lagoon is 10 minutes from Buga, a lovely town with plenty of character, and accomodations are in the colonial style Hotel Guadalajara . Those who wish can tour the town or relax at the hotel pool during any down time.


BIRDS FOUND IN THIS LOCALITY
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Crested Bobwhite Colinus cristatus
Fulvous Whistling-duck Dendrocygna bicolor
Black-bellied Whistling-duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Red-crowned Woodpecker Melanerpes rubricapillus
Spot-breasted Woodpecker Colaptes punctigula
Lineated Woodpecker Dryocopus lineatus
Ringed Kingfisher Megaceryle torquata
Amazon Kingfisher Chloroceryle amazona
Dwarf Cuckoo Coccyzus pumilus
Little Cuckoo Piaya minuta
Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga ani
Groove-billed Ani Crotophaga sulcirostris
Striped Cuckoo Tapera naevia
Spectacled Parrotlet Forpus conspicillatus
Blue-headed Parrot Pionus menstruus
Black-throated Mango Anthracothorax nigricollis
Steely-vented Hummingbird Amazilia saucerrottei
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Amazilia tzacatl
Grey Potoo Nyctibius griseus
Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
Eared Dove Zenaida auriculata
Ruddy Ground-dove Columbina talpacoti
Limpkin Aramus guarauna
Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinicus
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
American Coot Fulica americana
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Wattled Jacana Jacana jacana
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis
Laughing Gull Larus atricilla
Osprey Pandion haliaetus
Snail Kite Rostrhamus sociabilis
Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris
Crested Caracara Caracara plancus
Yellow-headed Caracara Milvago chimachima
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Anhinga Anhinga anhinga
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Cocoi Heron Ardea cocoi
Great Egret Ardea alba
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Striated Heron Butorides striatus
Black-crowned Night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax
Whispering Ibis Phimosus infuscatus
Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
Green Ibis Mesembrinibis cayennensis
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant Poecilotriccus sylvia
Common Tody-flycatcher Todirostrum cinereum
Southern Beardless-tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum
Mouse-coloured Tyrannulet Phaeomyias murina
Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet Tyrannulus elatus
Yellow-bellied Elaenia Elaenia flavogaster
Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
Pied Water-tyrant Fluvicola pica
Cattle Tyrant Machetornis rixosus
Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
Fork-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus savana
Rusty-margined Flycatcher Myiozetetes cayanensis
Lesser Kiskadee Philohydor lictor
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Cinereous Becard Pachyramphus rufus
Barred Antshrike Thamnophilus doliatus
Pale-breasted Spinetail Synallaxis albescens
Cocoa Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus susurrans
Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus
Black-billed Thrush Turdus ignobilis
Tropical Mockingbird Mimus gilvus
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Blue-&-white Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
Southern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
Sand Martin Riparia riparia
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Lesser Goldfinch Carduelis psaltria
Tropical Parula Parula pitiayumi
Bananaquit Coereba flaveola
Blue-grey Tanager Thraupis episcopus
Palm Tanager Thraupis palmarum
Thick-billed Euphonia Euphonia laniirostris
Orange-fronted Yellow-finch Sicalis columbiana
Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola
Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina
Ruddy-breasted Seedeater Sporophila minuta
Yellow-backed Oriole Icterus chrysater
Yellow Oriole Icterus nigrogularis
Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
Yellow-hooded Blackbird Agelaius icterocephalus
Red-breasted Blackbird Sturnella militaris
Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis