The Laguna de Sonso Nature Reserve is a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 in the Valle del Cauca Department

Valle del Cauca Department

Valle del Cauca is a department of Colombia. It is in the western side of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean, and it is considered one of the most important departments in the Republic of Colombia. Its capital is Santiago de Cali...

 of Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. It contains the last extensive remnant of original natural wetland remaining in the Cauca River Valley in western Colombia, and was declared a nature reserve in October 1978. It comprises a series of marshes and lagoons on the east bank of the Cauca River

Cauca River

The Cauca River is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. Born in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Pinillos in Bolívar Department, and the combined river eventually flows out into the Caribbean Sea. It has a...

, between the municipalities of Buga

Buga, Valle del Cauca

Buga formally Guadalajara de Buga is a city and municipality in the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia. It is famous for its Basilica del Señor de los Milagros, which houses an image of Christ called El Señor de los Milagros .-History:Guadalajara de Buga is one of the oldest cities in...

, Yotoco

Yotoco

Yotoco is a town and municipality located in the Department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia....

 and Guacari

Guacari

Guacarí is a town and municipality located in the Department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia....

. It has an area of 2,045 ha, lying at an altitude of 935 m above sea level. The wetlands are affected by the introduced Water Hyacinth

Water hyacinth

The seven species of water hyacinth comprise the genus Eichhornia. Water hyacinth are a free-floating perennial aquatic plant native to tropical and sub-tropical South America. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinth may rise above the surface of the water as much as 1 meter in...

.

Fauna

Birds recorded from the reserve include the Fulvous Whistling Duck

Fulvous Whistling Duck

The Fulvous Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna bicolor, is a whistling duck which breeds across the world's tropical regions in much of Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and the Gulf Coast of the United States....

, Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal

The Blue-winged Teal is a small dabbling duck from North America.-Description:The Blue-winged Teal is long, with a wingspan of , and a weight of . The adult male has a greyish blue head with a white facial crescent, a light brown body with a white patch near the rear and a black tail. The adult...

, Osprey

Osprey

The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...

, Wattled Jacana

Wattled Jacana

The Wattled Jacana Jacana jacana is a wader which is a resident breeder from western Panama and Trinidad south through most of South America east of the Andes....

, Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked Stilt

The Black-necked Stilt is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean...

, Cattle egret

Cattle Egret

The Cattle Egret is a cosmopolitan species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the Western Cattle Egret and the Eastern Cattle Egret...

, Cocoi Heron

Cocoi Heron

The Cocoi Heron is a species of heron in the Ardeidae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It is a non-breeding visitor to Trinidad and Tobago and a vagrant to the Falkland...

, Striated Heron

Striated Heron

The Striated Heron, Butorides striata, also known as Mangrove Heron, Little Heron or Green-backed Heron, is a small heron. Striated Herons are mostly non-migratory and noted for some interesting behavioral traits. Their breeding habitat is small wetlands in the Old World tropics from west Africa to...

, Anhinga

Anhinga

The Anhinga , sometimes called Snakebird, Darter, American Darter, or Water Turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word "anhinga" comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird.It is a cormorant-like bird with an average body length of , a...

 and Neotropic Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

The Neotropic Cormorant or Olivaceous Cormorant is a medium-sized cormorant found throughout the American tropics and subtropics, from the middle Rio Grande and the Gulf and Californian coasts of the USA south through Mexico and Central America to southern South America. It also breeds on the...

. Of special interest are the Greyish Piculet

Greyish Piculet

The Greyish Piculet is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is endemic to Colombia.-Taxonomy:The Greyish Piculet is part of a superspecies with the Olivaceous Piculet, and may even be conspecific, or the same species. There are two described subspecies: P. g. antioquensis in the northern...

, Apical Flycatcher

Apical Flycatcher

The Apical Flycatcher is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family.It is endemic to Colombia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . ...

, Bar-crested Antshrike

Bar-crested Antshrike

The Bar-crested Antshrike is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family.It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International...

 and the Scrub Tanager

Scrub Tanager

The Scrub Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family.It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International...

. The reserve also supports the only remaining population of the Horned Screamer

Horned Screamer

The Horned Screamer is a member of a small family of birds, the Anhimidae, which occurs in wetlands of tropical South America...

 in the region.

Mammals found there include Common Opossum

Common Opossum

The common opossum , also called the southern or black-eared opossum, is a mammal species living from the northeast of Mexico to Bolivia, including the Lesser Antilles, where it is called manicou. It prefers the woods, but can also live in fields and cities...

, Pallas's Long-tongued Bat

Pallas's Long-tongued Bat

Pallas's Long-tongued Bat, Glossophaga soricina, is a South and Central American bat. It has the fastest metabolism ever recorded in a mammal, similar to those of hummingbirds...

, Common Vampire Bat

Common Vampire Bat

The Common Vampire Bat is a small leaf-nosed bat native to the Americas. It is one of three extant species of vampire bat, the other two being the Hairy-legged Vampire Bat and the White-winged Vampire Bat. Along with them, it is the only parasitic mammal. It mainly feeds on the blood of livestock...

, Tapeti

Tapeti

The Tapeti , also known as the Brazilian Rabbit or Forest Rabbit, is a cottontail rabbit species found in Central and South America....

, Capybara

Capybara

The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...

, and Nine-banded Armadillo

Nine-banded Armadillo

The nine-banded armadillo , or the nine-banded, long-nosed armadillo, is a species of armadillo found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos...

. There are also Cane Toad

Cane Toad

The Cane Toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad which is native to Central and South America, but has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean...

s and Common Snapping Turtles, as well as several native and introduced fish species which provide the basis of a local fishing industry, including the native Prochilodus magdalenae

Prochilodus magdalenae

Prochilodus magdalenae are tropical freshwater fish distributed through Colombia. They are found in the Atrato River, the Sinú River, and in the Cauca and Magdalena Rivers. They have been measured to reach , and reported to reach up to . They have a growing role in fisheries....

which uses the wetlands for spawning

Spawn (biology)

Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...

.