Colombian Grebe

The Andean Grebe (Podiceps andinus ) is an extinct species of grebes. This bird was once common in an extremely small area in Colombia, but was not seen alive since 1977.

The Andean divers showed strong similarity with a Black-necked Grebe, but had, in contrast to this a maroon front neck. According to some ornithologists it was merely a subspecies of the Black-necked diver.

The distribution area of the Andes diver comprised only the Colombian provinces of Boyacá and Cundinamarca. His breeding areas were the wetlands around the capital Bogotá and the shores of Laguna de Tota ( Totasee ). The marshes were largely drained during the 20th century, the remaining wetlands to the extent contaminated by sewage and garbage that the populations of the Andean diver collapsed in the 1950s. Individual animals lived until the 1970s. The last Andes divers saw 1977 on the Totasee. An intensive search of the kind was the 1981/82 result.