After my current publish on my 12 favorite species in South Africa, I made a decision to show to Sri Lanka, the place I lived after most of my youth in South Africa. As this nation is manner smaller than South Africa and I additionally didn’t reside there for as a few years, I believed it might be simpler to restrict myself to 10 species. This anticipated ease turned out to be treacherously false, however in the long run I happily managed to restrict myself to 10 species.
Serendip Scops-Owl
I believe it’s a coincidence that it’s once more an owl occupying the primary place on this listing, however no coincidence that it seems on this listing alltogether. This chicken might be objectively the best chicken of Sri Lanka not solely as a result of its beautiful look but in addition as a result of it was solely described to science in 2004 – simply 15 years earlier than I first noticed it! It additionally has one of the stunning names of all scops-owls.
Sri Lanka Thrush
This chicken needed to be right here as a result of I had lengthy wished to see all endemics within the nation. On the similar time, residing in a spot slightly than visiting as a vacationer means that there’s a lot much less strain to achieve such a goal. This made me slightly too laid-back than I ought to’ve been to achieve my goal. I solely noticed it the Sri Lanka Thrush few weeks earlier than I moved in another country for good.
Black-rumped Flameback
This was a backyard chicken in Colombo and is definitely one of the beautiful woodpeckers on the market (okay, I don’t need to take into consideration this assertion an excessive amount of earlier than I recall Nice Slaty, Coronary heart-spotted, Southern Floor, and so on., and so on.). I’ll always remember its glowing crimson again because it perched on the palm trunks round our home.
Crimson-fronted Barbet
I really like the colorful barbets of South and Southeast Asia, and this chicken isn’t any exception. An endemic to Sri Lanka, that is most likely probably the most vibrant barbet of the island. This chicken was pretty common in our neighbourhood (although not as widespread because the Brown-headed Barbet), and in the course of the COVID-19 lockdowns I spent just a few days watching a pair at a nest, and a chick finally fledging, near my dwelling. With the ability to accompany this course of was certainly one of my many memorable birding moments in Sri Lanka.
Stork-billed Kingfisher
This chicken kicked out Painted Francolin within the final minute, cause being that I’ve seen it rather more continuously (the francolin solely twice) and that it’s merely a extra uncommon chicken than the francolin, which was extra within the race for its rarity in Sri Lanka. The completely huge invoice of the Stork-billed Kingfisher could be very spectacular, however its brilliant blue again can also be exceptionally stunning, being similar to the blue flash of a flying Frequent Kingfisher, solely like 5 of these tied collectively.
Frequent Hawk-Cuckoo
That is the one species within the listing I’ve by no means seen, though I’ve actually stood underneath the tree from the place it was calling a handful of instances. Not solely that, however a good friend of mine who’s extra of an off-the-cuff birdwatcher has seen it a number of instances. These are absolutely two standards for a real bogey/nemesis chicken. As a cuckoo, it is usually a really cool species and I stay up for finally seeing this beast.
Indian Pitta
Wherever they happen, I believe it must be compulsory that pittas function on a listing similar to this one. Therefore, whereas the inclusion of the Indian Pitta is well-deserved, this species doesn’t examine to a few of the completely dramatic representatives of this group, such because the African Pitta which I’ve seen in Zimbabwe or my favorite of all, the Malayan Banded Pitta. I’ve seen it close to my home, within the highlands, and within the northern lowlands, however am nonetheless all the time desirous to see it once more.
Ruddy-breasted Crake
I’ve had a number of good encounters with this species, which is slightly shocking because the phrase crake normally implies some impossibly elusive beast calling from dense reeds. Actually, I coincidentally got here throughout a gaggle of birders (together with a trainer from my faculty) in certainly one of my first weeks within the nation, in a city wetland near my dwelling, who have been watching this chicken. The crake stayed for fairly some time, giving me a number of good views. I actually love crakes, and any high quality crake sighting is due to this fact all the time a spotlight.
Sri Lanka Blue Magpie
An endemic of Sri Lanka, this species is a traditional chicken of the Sinharaja forest. It additionally usually greets guests on the entrance to the forest, making it a chicken I join with all my visits to this legendary forest. They’re comparatively approachable, however sadly circumstances have by no means been ample for a very good photograph.
Sri Lanka Frogmouth
This species is endemic to Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats, the place it happens in forests however is normally solely seen roosting by day within the densest of tangles inside the undergrowth. One other typical species in Sinharaja, the native guides are normally capable of find a roosting pair in swampy areas with tree ferns within the forest.
Having lower down the listing to 10 makes me much more desirous to see all of the species that didn’t make it. Nevertheless, I equally stay up for returning to Sri Lanka to see all of those species once more (and at last nail down the hawk-cuckoo!). There’s additionally an excellent assortment of shorebird species to be discovered on the island (together with Crab Plover), which makes a winter go to significantly worthwhile. I didn’t need to add waders on this listing as they don’t seem to be distinctive to Sri Lanka, however watching plovers, stints, and different waders alongside the northern coasts is one other birding spotlight on the island for me.