I live in Bolivia for the past ten years and am an active birdwatcher. Through both my work with Asociación Armonía and personal travels, I have visited many remote areas of the high Andes. Despite the extensive time spent surveying high-elevation lakes and wetlands, I have never encountered the Horned Coot. While this is anecdotal, I find it notable that even after visiting many sites where the species has historically been recorded, I have only observed Giant Coots, not Horned Coots.
In 2024, I participated in a Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (Phegornis mitchellii) census and witnessed widespread drying of high Andean bogs and lakes. This drying could be attributed to the severe El Niño-induced drought during the 2023–2024 season. However, it may also reflect longer-term changes caused by increasing lithium mining activity, which is expanding across several regions of the high Andes. In addition, overgrazing by large populations of domestic llamas may be degrading wetland quality and water availability.
I believe that the ecological changes occurring in remote Bolivian high Andean ecosystems are being significantly underestimated. The combined impacts of climate change, mining, and livestock pressure may be altering hydrological systems and reducing habitat quality for species like the Horned Coot. While I do not have quantitative data on Horned Coot population trends in Bolivia, the fact that I have not encountered the species at historically known sites over a decade of high-elevation fieldwork suggests a potential decline that requires further investigation.
I live in Bolivia for the past ten years and am an active birdwatcher. Through both my work with Asociación Armonía and personal travels, I have visited many remote areas of the high Andes. Despite the extensive time spent surveying high-elevation lakes and wetlands, I have never encountered the Horned Coot. While this is anecdotal, I find it notable that even after visiting many sites where the species has historically been recorded, I have only observed Giant Coots, not Horned Coots.
In 2024, I participated in a Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (Phegornis mitchellii) census and witnessed widespread drying of high Andean bogs and lakes. This drying could be attributed to the severe El Niño-induced drought during the 2023–2024 season. However, it may also reflect longer-term changes caused by increasing lithium mining activity, which is expanding across several regions of the high Andes. In addition, overgrazing by large populations of domestic llamas may be degrading wetland quality and water availability.
I believe that the ecological changes occurring in remote Bolivian high Andean ecosystems are being significantly underestimated. The combined impacts of climate change, mining, and livestock pressure may be altering hydrological systems and reducing habitat quality for species like the Horned Coot. While I do not have quantitative data on Horned Coot population trends in Bolivia, the fact that I have not encountered the species at historically known sites over a decade of high-elevation fieldwork suggests a potential decline that requires further investigation.