| Tibanica Wetland | |
| Map: | Colombia Bogotá |
| Map Width: | 150 |
| Mark: | Green pog.svg |
| Marker Size: | 12 |
| Location: | Bosa, Bogotá Soacha, Cundinamarca |
| Coordinates: | 4.6021°N -74.2044°W |
| Area Ha: | 28.8 |
| Elevation: | 2542m (8,340feet) |
| Designated: | September 2003 |
| Named For: | Muysccubun "portal of the altars" |
| Administrator: | EAAB - ESP |
Tibanica (Spanish; Castilian: Humedal Tibanica) is a wetland, part of the Wetlands of Bogotá, located on the border of the locality Bosa, Bogotá and Soacha, Cundinamarca, Colombia. The wetland on the Bogotá savanna covers an area of about 28.8ha. Tibanica is located in the Tunjuelo River basin.[1]
The name Tibanica has its origin in Muysccubun, the language of the Muisca Confederation, the former country on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense before the Spanish conquest. Tiba means "lord", niki; "gate, altar" and ica or icu refers to the supreme being in the Muisca religion, Chiminigagua or the afterlife. The accepted meaning is thus "portal of the altars"; the entrance to a sacred place for the indigenous Muisca.[2]
Flora registered in Tibanica are among others Senna viarum, Humboldt's willow (Salix humboldtiana), common duckweed (Lemna minor), common cattail (Typha latifolia), and Juncus bogotensis.[3]
In Tibanica, 24 bird species have been registered, of which one endemic, uniquely to this wetland, the black-winged kite (Elanus caeruleus).[4] [5]
Other bird species as the Bogotá rail (Rallus semiplumbeus), spot-flanked gallinule (Gallinula melanops bogotensis), and Apolinar's wren (Cistothorus apolinari), named after Colombian monk and ornithologist Apolinar María, have been spotted in Tibanica.[2] [3]