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Site description (2008 baseline)
Humedal Sur de Pinar del Río IBA includes the coastal zone between the municipalities of Los Palacios and Consolación del Sur, in the south of Pinar del Río province. It comprises a fringe of natural coastal wetlands associated with rice cultivation and cattle farming. The coastal wetlands, which include several lagoons such as Maspotón and Casa Media, are bordered by mangroves. More than 90% of the IBA consists of wetland habitat, 30% of it is natural (mangroves, coastal lagoons, salt marshes, intertidal mudflats) and the rest is artificial (i.e. seasonal rice paddies).

Key biodiversity
This IBA supports more than 101 bird species and holds significant numbers of resident and migratory waterbirds, particularly shorebirds and ducks. More than 10,000 dowitchers Limnodromus spp. have been observed. Other common waterbirds include Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea, Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, West Indian Whistling-duck Dendrocygna arborea (Vulnerable), Blue-winged Teal Anas discors, and Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis. The largest concentration of American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos recorded in the Caribbean (c.400 individuals) was in this IBA where it is a common winter resident.

Non-bird biodiversity: The coastal lagoons support populations of the Vulnerable American crocodile Crocodylus acutus and the hutia Capromys pilorides .

Acknowledgements
Authors: LOURDES MUGICA, MARTÍN ACOSTA

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Humedal Sur de Pinar del Río (Cuba). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/humedal-sur-de-pinar-del-río-iba-cuba on 22/12/2024.