Wildlife Watching in Costanera Sur

Information

The Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve has different natural environments that make it a place with great biodiversity. It has trails that allow you to walk through it and appreciate its fauna.

It is very popular with individuals and groups for birdwatching. The number of registered species is enormous, and here I will only mention some of them as a guide.

To begin with, on the border of the reserve facing the outer street is the Laguna de los Coipos (like a lake). Here you can see the movement of the mammal that bears its name, the coypu (Myocastor coypus). They are often accompanied by turtles that come to the surface especially on hot days, the two common species of which are the black-bellied slider (Trachemys dorbigni) and the Hilaire's side-necked turtle (Phrynops hilarii). In addition, a multitude of aquatic birds inhabit this body of water such as ducks, herons, etc. There are always the coscoroba swan (Coscoroba coscoroba), white-tufted grebe (Rollandia rolland), great grebe (Podiceps major), rosy-billed pochard (Netta peposaca) and common gallinule (Gallinula galeata).

Within the protected area, the Camino de los Lagartos (a trail which runs along the shores of the Laguna de los Coipos on the other side) is excellent for bird watching, some of which are common. You can see birds of prey such as the Harris's hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) and others such as the masked yellowthroat (only between October and March, Geothlypis aequinoctialis), grey-cowled wood-rail (Aramides cajaneus), Chivi Vireo (between October and March, Vireo chivi), black-and-rufous warbling-finch (Poospiza nigrorufa), etc.

Another interesting trail is the Camino del Medio (which joins the Camino de los Lagartos with the waterfront), where you can often see species of interest that are not so common in other places, such as the red-and-white crake (Laterallus leucopyrrhus) and the sulphur-throated spinetail (Limnoctites sulphuriferus).

It is worth mentioning the presence of some introduced and/or feral species, such as the common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and the nanday parakeet (Aratinga nenday).