Columbian Grebe (Podiceps andinus)
Posted on 31 December, 1977 in Extinct
Year Last Seen:
1977
Comments:
This species was only known from Lake Tota, Colombia. It was last recorded in 1977 and is now Extinct as a result of human-induced changes to the lake, with intensive searches in 1981 failing to find it.
Habitat:
It inhabited freshwater wetlands, including reed-fringed pools and lakes.
Causes:
It declined as a combined result of wetland drainage, siltation, pesticide pollution, disruption by reed harvesting, hunting and predation by introduced Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Fjeldså 1993).
Distribution:
Podiceps andinus was restricted to the Bogotá wetlands at c.2,600 m in the Eastern Andes of Colombia.