The Hooded Grebe (Podiceps gallardoi) is a handsome Near Endemic bird to Argentina which breeds exclusively in some basaltic plateaus of W Santa Cruz, Patagonia Argentina. Among them are Buenos Aires, Strobel, Asador, Mata Amarilla, etc. As other grebes, this one is highly associated with healthy lakes which offer it the support to build its nesting colonies during the austral summer, an aquatic plant called Myriophyllum sp. During the winter, it migrates to some estuarine areas of SE Santa Cruz located between Río Gallegos and Puerto Santa Cruz villages. There are also some records in Chile from last 1990´s.

Hooded Grebe was discovered to science in 1974 and at the moment, its population is estimated at about 800 individuals. Indeed, it has declined 80 percent in the last 25 years. As a result of this extremely worrying situation and to avoid its imminent extinction, it was declared a protected species of Santa Cruz in 2003 by Law 2582 and currently, it is also categorized as a Critically Endangered species by IUCN/BirdLife International.

Consequently, this grebe is one of the "most wanted" birds of Southern Patagonia and this tour is specially focused on the search for it and some other endemic and specialties of this zone.