South-west Nicaragua includes two vast freshwater wetlands with sandy shores, extensive permanent marshes and adjacent seasonally flooded marshes (see map, p. 135). The southern edge of Lake Nicaragua (8,270 km², the largest lake in Central America) is adjacent to the border with Costa Rica, and drains into the Caribbean via the San Juan river. The much smaller Lake Managua lies to the north-west and is very important for a wide variety of waterfowl, both breeding and wintering (Scott and Carbonell 1986). Nicaraguan Grackle Quiscalus nicaraguensis is found only around the shores of Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua, associated with open marshy areas, lake shores, riverbanks, wet pastures and scrub (Stiles and Skutch 1989). In recent years the birds have expanded their range, in association with livestock-raising, to the western edge of the Caribbean slope near the source of the San Juan river from Lake Nicaragua and along the nearby Frío river (especially at Lake Caño Negro) into northern Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch 1989, T. R. Howell in litt. 1993).

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Lake Nicaragua marshes. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/310 on 23/11/2024.