When we Uruguayans are asked about our native animals, we basically remember three or four iconic species, those that we consider to be examples of native fauna. These are, broadly speaking, the rhea, the armadillo, the lapwing and the capybara.
However, we have a much more complex diversity, and in many cases, we Uruguayans do not even consider them part of our fauna. Animals that do not live in the country all year round, that are migrants, some of them come looking for the heat of summer to make their nests and feed their young, like the Swallows, that come from North America every year at the beginning of our spring; or the Churrinche, that little fire-red bird that visits us from central Brazil to perform its nuptial rituals and nest here every summer, leaving at the beginning of autumn.
Some other species are more elusive and strange, they are those that do not come here to nest, nor to court or to have their offspring. For example, those that come escaping from the cold southern winter, like the four species of penguins that visit us every year. During the summer, they nest on islands and coasts of the southern Atlantic, Patagonia or Antarctica, where they take care of their eggs and chicks, and when the cold winter gets worse, they migrate to our seas looking for a more benevolent winter.
Author: Augusto Giussi
