BIRDING FACTS AT A GLANCE Endemics 33 species of endemic birds with 55 species endemic to mainland India and Sri Lanka, based on Rasmussen & Anderton (2005). This is not universally adopted. When To Go For general purpose bird watching, especially for a family holiday with elephants, leopards and other mammals thrown in, the country is a year-round destination. Serious birders in pursuit of the endemics traditionally prefer November to April when the ainforest rich south-west is at its driest.
Top Sites Sinharaja and Kithulgala are amongst the best lowland rainforests for endemics. For the highland endemics, Horton Plains National Park is very important. Talangama, close to Colombo, provides easy access to wetland birds.
- An unbelievably colourful bird.
Chocolate brown on the head and wings with a red bill, eye-ring and legs set against blue plumage with white on the tail. It is hard to believe this bird is also in the crow family. Usually found in small flocks. The Blue Magpie, like the common Yellow-billed Babbler, is a social nester with other birds helping the breeding pair to bring up young. Its
social life is probably one of the most interesting of Sri Lankan birds. A PhD study on Ceylon Blue Magpies was reaching an end at the time of writing and some interesting papers will no doubt be published in due course by the researchers from the University of Colombo. Restricted to wet-zone forests of fairly significant size.It has a wide repertoire of calls, most of which are harsh and grating, some with metallic intonations.
- Extremely shy.
- Found in pairs in wet-zone forests
Normally from the lowlands to the highlands, but in smaller numbers in the highlands. It is found in the dry zone as well but tends to be restricted to areas of riverine forests in the dry zone. Notoriously elusive and wary – even at Sinharaja where other species of birds have become quite used to people. It can superficially look like a female unglefowl, but the male is spangled in black and white on the belly and on the upper-parts. The female lacks the
prominent barring found in the female Junglefowl. Both sexes have bare, red, orbital skin and red legs. The red on the female’s face is duller. Loud duetting betrays their presence, though birds often remain well hidden. The call is stretched out with the same syllable repeated and rising in pitch, with a hysterical feel to it. If it were not for the far carrying calls, the presence of this bird in many forest patches would go undetected. It feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates in the leaf litter and will also feed on berries.
- Widespread up to the mountains in surviving forest tracts.
- Best seen in the dry zone national parks,
Especially early in the morning, when they are seen besides the roads. Extremely nervous in the wet-zone forests, except in protected forests where they are habituated to handouts. The female is brown with barred wings. The male can be mistaken for a domestic cockerel. The neck and mantle are golden. Males are quite aggressive to other males. The call is a tremulous chuk-r chuk chikik with an incredulous sounding intonation.
- The biggest pigeon on the island
It prefers large forested stretches in the highlands, but makes seasonal movements to the lower hills, descending as low as Sinharaja. Generally likes well-forested areas, although it can be seen visiting gardens. It has a bluish-grey body with a black and white marking on the purplish hind-neck. Distinctly larger than a feral pigeon. Horton
Plains National Park and the botanical gardens in Hakgala are two of the most reliable sites for it. It often resorts to staying ‘frozen’ to avoid detection, but when busy feeding on a fruiting tree, is less likely to take notice of the presence of people. Flies away with a clapping noise.
where almost always seen with mixed-species feeding flocks. It was not photographed by a Sri Lankan until 2001when I went after it. It shows how difficult it was to get good views of some Sri Lankan rainforest birds until the mid 1990s. In Sinharaja, it is now habituated to people. Surprisingly this striking bird is hard to see in the canopy, its preferred habitat. The red face, black upper-parts, and tail with white under-parts make it un-mistakable. The male as brown irides and the female has white irides. The white irides give the female’s face a ‘surprised, staring’ look. It is mainly insectivorous, but will opportunistically feed on ripe berries. Generally silent, but occasionally utters a
guttural rattling call, almost a croak.
