Bird Watching at
Sinharaja Rain Forest
Sinharaja Forest Reserve is Sri Lanka’s last area of primary tropical rainforest. More than 60% of the trees are endemic and many of them are considered rare. This hilly virgin rainforest, part of the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests ecoregion, was saved from commercial logging by its inaccessibility and was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988. The reserve’s name means Lion Kingdom. The Forest Reserve is a treasure trove of endemic species, including trees, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Birds tend to move in mixed feeding flocks, invariably led by the fearless Sri Lanka Crested Drongo and the noisy, orange-billed babbler. Of Sri Lanka’s 33 endemic birds’ species, the 20 rainforest species all occur here, including the elusive red-faced malkoha, green-billed coucal and Sri Lanka blue magpie. Reptiles, including the endemic green pit viper, the hump-nosed vipers and other snakes, and a large variety of amphibians, especially tree frogs, are living in Sinharaja as well as invertebrates include the endemic common birdwing butterfly and leeches.
Bird Watching in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is one of the best places in Asia for bird watching too, because of the large number of endemic species and due to its strategic place in the Indian Ocean for migrating birds.
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