Birds of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a prime bird watching destination. A tropical island in the Indian Ocean closer to the equator, boasts a diverse and bird friendly climate and natural habitats such as forests, scrublands, grasslands, wetlands, seas and agricultural lands. Sri Lanka is home to 439 species of birds of which 236 are breeding residents, 203 migrants and the rest vagrants. For a country as small as Sri Lanka having 33 endemic species and 68 endemic subspecies of birds with a species endemism of 11% goes to demonstrate why Sri Lanka is one of the finest birds watching destinations in the world. This includes endemics such as Fowls, Pigeons, Parrots, Parakeets, Malkoha, Coucal, Owl, Owlet, Hornbill, Barbet, Magpie, Bulbul, Warbler, Babbler, Thrush, White-eye, Mynah, Starling, Flycatcher, Flowerpecker, Pigeon, Barbet, Flameback, Woodshrike, Drongo and Swallow.
From end November to early April is the best period for bird watching in Sri Lanka as it brings the winter migratory birds to Sri Lanka where they settle in the birding sites such as Mannar, Kalpitiya, Kumana, Bundala, Kalamaetiya and Anawilundawa sanctuaries. But throughout the year is good for bird watching in Sinharaja Rain Forest, Makandawa Rain Forest in Kitulgala and highland bird watching sites such as Knuckles Biosphere reserve and Horton Plains National Park. So whether you plan your family holiday in Sri Lanka during winter holidays or Summer holidays, Sri Lanka offers plenty of bird watching opportunities.
The entire Sri Lanka is a nature reserve as you could find many national parks and natural sanctuaries virtually in every destination. When you are on your family holiday in Sri Lanka, we guarantee that in all destinations you opt to stay are a heaven for birds. If you take a typical Sri Lanka tour route from Negombo, Sigiriya, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Yala, Tangalle and Galle all of these destinations provide you good bird watching opportunities in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a serious contender for Costa Rica when it comes to bird watching.
So, if you are bird watching enthusiasts’, we could organise one or two or even more bird watching excursions with local guides during your family tour in Sri Lanka be it a walking bird watching tour, hiking bird watching tour or a bird watching boat tour in a lagoon/river, we have all these bird watching tours in Sri Lanka.
