Colombia Ramsar wetland
Ciénaga de Zapatosa
83 bird species recorded; the most in May.
Evetila24 · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
36 species in January.35 species in February.28 species in March.36 species in April.58 species in May.39 species in June.0 species in July.0 species in August.14 species in September.50 species in October.0 species in November.0 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.

































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No records for this month.
No records for this month.
































No records for this month.
No records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
83 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 83Speciesrecorded more than once
- 21Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 529Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 9Raptors
- 4Waders
- 2Gulls & seabirds
- 6Ducks & geese
- 15Herons, ibises & grebes
- 1Storks & cranes
- 28Songbirds
- 18Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 83 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors9 species
- Crested CaracaraCaracara plancus
- Black-collared HawkBusarellus nigricollis
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Snail KiteRostrhamus sociabilis
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Savanna HawkButeogallus meridionalis
- Lesser Yellow-headed VultureCathartes burrovianus
- Roadside HawkRupornis magnirostris
Waders4 species
- Wattled JacanaJacana jacana
- Southern LapwingVanellus chilensis
- Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
Gulls & seabirds2 species
- Large-billed TernPhaetusa simplex
- Black SkimmerRynchops niger
Ducks & geese6 species
- Black-bellied Whistling DuckDendrocygna autumnalis
- Northern ScreamerChauna chavaria
- Blue-winged TealSpatula discors
- Fulvous Whistling-duckDendrocygna bicolor
- White-faced Whistling-duckDendrocygna viduata
- Cairina moschataCairina moschata
Herons, ibises & grebes15 species
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Phalacrocorax brasilianusPhalacrocorax brasilianus
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Cocoi HeronArdea cocoi
- Striated HeronButorides striata
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Whispering IbisPhimosus infuscatus
- Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
- Buff-necked IbisTheristicus caudatus
- Roseate SpoonbillPlatalea ajaja
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Capped HeronPilherodius pileatus
- Reddish EgretEgretta rufescensNT
- Green HeronButorides virescens
Storks & cranes1 species
- Wood StorkMycteria americana
Songbirds28 species
- Tropical KingbirdTyrannus melancholicus
- Great KiskadeePitangus sulphuratus
- Carib GrackleQuiscalus lugubris
- Gray-breasted MartinProgne chalybea
- Pied Water TyrantFluvicola pica
- Yellow OrioleIcterus nigrogularis
- Bicolored WrenCampylorhynchus griseus
- Cattle TyrantMachetornis rixosa
- Fork-tailed FlycatcherTyrannus savana
- Shiny CowbirdMolothrus bonariensis
- Yellow-chinned SpinetailCerthiaxis cinnamomeus
- Blue-gray TanagerThraupis episcopus
- Yellow-backed OrioleIcterus chrysater
- Stripe-backed WrenCampylorhynchus nuchalis
- Caribbean HorneroFurnarius longirostris
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Social FlycatcherMyiozetetes similis
- Brown-chested MartinProgne tapera
- White-winged SwallowTachycineta albiventer
- Olive-grey SaltatorSaltator olivascens
- Rufous-browed PeppershrikeCyclarhis gujanensis
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Black-crested AntshrikeSakesphorus canadensis
- Clay-colored ThrushTurdus grayi
- Yellow-bellied ElaeniaElaenia flavogaster
- Gray KingbirdTyrannus dominicensis
- Southern House WrenTroglodytes musculus
- Thraupis palmarumThraupis palmarum
Other birds18 species
- Greater AniCrotophaga major
- Ruddy Ground DoveColumbina talpacoti
- LimpkinAramus guarauna
- Ringed KingfisherMegaceryle torquata
- White-tipped DoveLeptotila verreauxi
- Smooth-billed AniCrotophaga ani
- Russet-throated PuffbirdHypnelus ruficollis
- Groove-billed AniCrotophaga sulcirostris
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
- Red-crowned WoodpeckerMelanerpes rubricapillus
- Brown-throated ParakeetAratinga pertinax
- Scaled DoveColumbina squammata
- PauraqueNyctidromus albicollis
- White-collared SwiftStreptoprocne zonaris
- Orange-chinned ParakeetBrotogeris jugularis
- Pale-vented PigeonPatagioenas cayennensis
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Crested BobwhiteColinus cristatus
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in May.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan33°/22°19 mm
- Feb35°/23°21 mm
- Mar35°/24°45 mm
- Apr34°/24°78 mm
- May32°/24°113 mm
- Jun33°/24°78 mm
- Jul34°/24°78 mm
- Aug34°/24°85 mm
- Sep32°/23°93 mm
- Oct30°/23°128 mm
- Nov30°/22°110 mm
- Dec32°/22°49 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Ciénaga de Zapatosa.
Ciénaga de Zapatosa is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Colombia.
83 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 529 open records.
The most recorded are the Great White Egret, the Black-bellied Whistling Duck and the Wattled Jacana.
9 species come for the summer, 12 for the winter and 0 only pass through.
1 are threatened worldwide, including Lesser yellowlegs.
The most species are recorded in May.

Get there and watch
- Hostal 1748place to stay · 5.9 km · 2 within 10 km
- Chimichaguanearest town · 6.4 km in a straight line
- Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport (VUP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 151 km in a straight lineCar hire at BAQ airport (Barranquilla)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 2places to stay within 10 kmHostal 1748, Hotel Central
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Ciénaga de Zapatosa.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.


Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q2974922) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 529 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Lakeyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

