Brahminy kites, tortoises and Bearded vultures

Have you ever seen a Brahminy Kite feeding on a tortoise? And it drops the tortoise from the sky on a rock to break the shell, as a Bearded Vulture plays with a huge bone?

I never seen or heard such incident, or any report on such behaviour by Brahminy kites. Anyway, I came across an account that describes how Brahminy kites feed on tortoises. It was from an old book written by Sir Edward Robert Sullivan, published in 1854 by Richard Bentley in London. “The Bungalow and Tent or A visit to Ceylon” is an account on his travels in Sri Lanka. Edward Sullivan was not considered as an ornithologist, but a great traveller. Most of his publications were on his travels, especially to American continents.

“There were a great quantity of tortoises or land turtle in the bed, and on the banks of the river where we camped, and the coolies brought them to us in numbers: one species is good to eat, and our respected old friend made some very tolerable soup from them. There were also a great many Brahminy or red kite, a Swamy bird that is worshipped and never destroyed by the natives. This kite is a great enemy of the tortoise; they cannot break the shell of the latter with their beaks, but they carry them up in their claws to a great height, and then dash them on some stone or rock. …..”

It is not certain that he observed this behaviour by himself, or penned it based on an account he heard from someone else. Or did he adopt behaviour of much familiar bird Bearded vulture? Or did he make a mistake when he saw a bird accidentally drop something on the wings, and later fed on a dead tortoise? There was no reference to such feeding behaviour of this bird by any of the later naturalists such as Captain Vincent Legge, who extensively observed avifauna of the island. At least I couldn’t find such account.

It is hard to believe that ancient Sri Lankans worshipped this bird as he described. Hindu devotees in India consider the Brahminy Kite as a sacred bird. They identify it as “Garuda”, the vehicle of God Vishnu. Sullivan admits that majority of natives in Sri Lanka were Buddhists at the period. He describes the Brahminy Kite as a great destroyer of serpents. However, he says that natives believe the bird does not feed on Cobra, as it is a sacred animal that helped Lord Buddha in many occasions.

Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) is a common bird species found in the Indian subcontitent, and also found in South-East Asia and Australia. Its distinctive coloration, White head and Chestnut brown body resulted its name, as it resembles the robes of Brahmins. Brahminy Kite is commonly found around large water bodies, mainly due to its feeding habits. It is considered as a scavenging bird and mostly depends on dead fish and some invertebrates. It is also capable of catching live animals including fish and small mammals.

Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) who feed on bone marrow, break open large carcass bones by lifting them into the air and dropping them into rocks. This video shows how this bird breaks the hard bones.

Download the book “The Bungalow and Tent” here.

Birding in Mannar and its surroundings

 

FOGSL in collaboration with Naval base in Vankalai organized a briding excursion to Mannar from 4-7^th November 2010 with the participation of 23 members. It was a “first in life” trip to few, while others were “going down the memory lane” to re-discover the birding hotsopts in the area. Mannar was out of bounds for most of the past 30 years due to the civil unrest and thankfully it is now being re-awakened with the conclusion of the war in 2009.

 

We left the Colombo University around 2.15 in the afternoon and reached St Anne’s Central Collage, Vankalai at sharp midnight; our base camp for the next three days. The guys opted to camp in a big hall upstairs while the ladies plus one child were left to settle themselves in two class rooms down below. Wake up call at 5.30 a.m was hard to stomach, yet we managed to be in the bus by 6.30 as all of us were eager to explore the surroundings.

 

Vankalai Sanctuary was our first stop. Very recently declared as Sri Lanka’s fourth Ramsar wetland of International Importance, Vankalai has also been identified as an Important Bird Area. Covering 4,839 ha, the sanctuary consists of numerous coastal and marine wetlands, and patches of arid zone dry thorn scurb, arid zone pasture and sand dunes. Mangroves, salt marshes, lagoons and sea-grass beds and maritime grasslands are the prominent wetlands. Due to the integrated nature of shallow wetland and terrestrial coastal habitats, this sanctuary is very productive, supporting high species diversity. Civil unrest has kept human activity out of this area and presently there are only few permanent settlements. Local people engage in small-scale livestock grazing, subsistence and commercial fishing.

 

We did most of our birding along the abandoned rail tracks that joined the main land to Talaimannar and crossed the Ilayadi Bridge near the Alfa 1 Naval camp. Around 74 species of birds including migratory waders were observed on that day. The most notable records were the Spot-billed duck, Eurasian Oystercatcher, and Sanderling. Even though we looked forward to seeing a large gathering of the graceful Greater Flamingos, our wish was not fulfilled during this trip; instead we had to be content with the colourful and common Painted storks!

 

It seems that the wild donkey or the assess are very abundant in Mannar, and even in the middle of the town itself you will find them in search of food. If uncheked and conservation measures are not taken, this population too will dissapear soon. Other mammals such as hare, jackal, wildboar and mongoose were also observed running through the thorny buhes of the Sanctuary. We also visited the Talaimannar pier, the tip of Mannar island where around four decades ago people used take ferries to India. On the way to the jetty large number of Indian Rollers were observed. The group also wanted to have a look at the Baobab tree, which has the widest recored tree trunk within Sri Lanka. Located near to the Mannar town, this tree’s orgin is the African continent and it had been introduced to our island by Arabian traders in 1476.

 

On the day two, the morning hours were again spent brding at the Vankalai Sanctuary. After breakfast we headed towards Vidattaltivu lagoon accompanied by two Navy officials, who were a great help in getting through numerous check points. We were greeted by three Crab plovers at the Vidattaltivu lagoon and this bird was a ‘lifer’ to most of us. Other than several and Little Green Bea-eaters who danced in and out amongst the bushes, the lagoons were devoid of birdlife. We headed towards Iluppaikkadavai Navy base, which is siutated sourrounded by a healty mangrove and salt marsh vegetation as well as the open ocean, for our lunch. Thereafter we took a lengthy walk along the banks of the lagoon. A Wimbrel, Grey Plovers, Pacific Golden Plovers, Terek Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, White-winged Terns were observed on the banks of the lagoons near to the base. A Rosy Starling and a Blyth's Pipit were also recorded by few of the birders close to the Iluppaikkadavai.

 

Although it was planned to return to Colombo through Wilpattu National Park and also to do some birding at Silavaturai, the idea had to be abandoned due to floods in that area. Instead we visited the Giant Tank Sanctuary where aquatic birds such as Common kingfisher, Pied kingfisher, Cotton Pygmy-goose, Little Grebes, Little Cormorants, Indian Cormorants and large number of Lesser whistling ducks were present.

 

The bird list for the trip passed 120 species with the addition of Wooly-necked stork and the Crested Serpent-eagle observed while travelling from Anuradhapura to Puttalam. Large number of butterflies was also recorded during this excursion. Both Vankalai and Giant Tank area can be considered as “photographer’s paradise” for capturing these vibrant beauties on film!

 

It also needed to be noted that with deep felt regret we observed the bridges, houses and other infrasturcture that was destroyed during the war and the human suffereing that went with it. All of us, including the Naval officers we spoke with hoped and prayed for long lasting peace where all races in our country can live as Sri Lankans under one flag!

We reached Colombo around 7 p.m on Sunday with lots of shared memories of the rich natural and cultural heritage of Mannar and its surroundings!

 

Participants: Mr. Ranjith Silva, Miss. Uraji Karunaratne, Mr. R.K. Jayarajah, Mr. Sivakumar Selvaraja, Mrs. Chitra Devi Ranasinghe, Mr. Adrian Gadriel, Mr. Osanda Senapathiratne, Mr. A. Nishantha Kulathunga, Mr. M.M. Casseer, Mrs. Sriyani Perera, Ms. Ziniya Nisam, Ms. Nandachitra Hewaga, Mr. G.Herath, Mr. Paba Bandara , Mr. Nilantha Megasooriya, Ms. Nishanthi Perera, Mr. Prasanna kobeesuuaram (Vauniya), Mr. Kuhapreetham, Mr. Kusum Fernando, Mrs. Shamila Perera, Mr. Chaminda Jayaratne, Mr. Kasun Dayananda, Mr. Indrika Pradeepa

Reported by Nishanthi Perera

Photos by Nishanthi Perera and Chaminda Jayaratne
More Photos

Birds List of Mannar

(Wankalai Sanctuary, Vidattaltivu Lagoon & Gaint’s Tank)

Grey Francolin

Indian Peafowl

Lesser Whistling-duck

Cotton Pygmy-goose

Spot-billed Duck

Garganey

Little Grebe

Painted Stork

Asian Openbill

Black-headed Ibis

Eurasian Spoonbill

Yellow Bittern

Black Bittern

Black-crowned Night-heron

Indian Pond-heron

Cattle Egret

Grey Heron

Purple Heron

Great Egret

Intermediate Egret

Little Egret

Spot-billed Pelican

Little Cormorant

Indian Cormorant

Oriental Darter

Black Kite

Brahminy Kite

White-bellied Sea-eagle

White-breasted Waterhen

Purple Swamphen

Barred Buttonquail

Great Thick-knee

Eurasian Oystercatcher

Crab Plover

Black-winged Stilt

Yellow-wattled Lapwing

Red-wattled Lapwing

Pacific Golden Plover

Grey Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Kentish Plover

Lesser Sand Plover

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

Pintail Snipe

Black-tailed Godwit

Whimbrel

Eurasian Curlew

Common Redshank

Common Greenshank

Wood Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

Little Stint

Curlew Sandpiper

Red-necked Phalarope

Indian Courser

Brown-headed Gull

Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Great Crested Tern

Little Tern

Whiskered Tern

White-winged Tern

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-dove

Spotted Dove

Rose-ringed Parakeet

Pied Cuckoo

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

Asian Koel

Greater Coucal

Asian Palm-swift

Alpine Swift

Crested Treeswift

Indian Roller

White-throated Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Little Green Bee-eater

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Eurasian Hoopoe

Brown-headed Barbet

Black-rumped Flameback

Indian Pitta

Ashy Woodswallow

Common Iora

Brown Shrike

Long-tailed Shrike

Black-hooded Oriole

Black Drongo

White-bellied Drongo

Asian Paradise-flycatcher

House Crow

Jungle Crow

Barn Swallow

Jerdon's Bushlark

Oriental Skylark

Ashy-crowned Sparrow-lark

Zitting Cisticola

Jungle Prinia

Plain Prinia

Red-vented Bulbul

White-browed Bulbul

Common Tailorbird

Yellow-billed Babbler

Common Myna

Rosy Starling

Oriental Magpie-robin

Indian Robin

Pale-billed Flowerpecker

Purple-rumped Sunbird

Long-billed Sunbird

House Sparrow

Scaly-breasted Munia

Tricoloured Munia

Paddyfield Pipit

Blyth's Pipit

How we watched birds during the non-migratory period 2010

Enthusiastic bird watchers of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community, do not abandon the habit of birding even during the non-migratory period. Since, Sri Lanka facilitate a rich diversity of avifauna, hobby of birding never becomes boring. ‘Sri Lanka Birds’, the community centered database on birds, shows how our bird watchers recorded their observations during the period. Following results are based on the data downloaded on 18th October 2010 for the period from April to September this year.

A total of 59 people who are keen on birds joined with ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community. FOGSL warmly welcomes our new members and invites them to enjoy the world of birding while contributing to the conservation process of Sri Lankan birds.

Observations (from 1st April to 30th September)
Number of visits (347)
Total Number of Observations (7357)
Number of Species (221)
Number of Endemic Species (21)
Number of Proposed endemic Species (7)
Number of migrant species (32)

Records of Black-necked Stork, Blue-eared Kingfisher and Spot-billed duck are noteworthy observations done during the period. A total of 32 migratory species were recorded, mainly during April and September, which are the endpoints of the season.

Number of nesting observations recorded during the said period was 87. Altogether 44 species were recorded as nesting during the six month interval.


Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
House Crow (271)
Red-vented Bulbul (253)
Common Myna (248)
White-throated Kingfisher (247)
Spotted Dove (227)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (3843)
Nadika Hapuarachchi (1054)
Amila Sumanapala (791)
Rahula Perera (537)
Chandanie Wanigatunge (496)

Number of locations visited during the period was 107. It covers wide variety of habitats and geographic regions of the island. Most importantly, many visits were from the North and Eastern provinces, which were previously inaccessible to birdwatchers. Thanks to member Newton Jayawardane’s untiring effort to monitor birds in his hometown, the highest number of observations was recorded at Ragama (2744).

Every birdwatcher in the tropical areas is anticipating the migratory season. So it is already started. Time to go out and record birds as much as possible. And while enjoying the world of birds, you can contribute to the conservation of Sri Lankan birds by submitting your data, to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ database.

To see current statistics on the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, visit the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’.

FOGSL checklist on BUBO Listing

BUBO Listing is a new approach to an old activity; comparing birding lists. Whilst frowned upon by the more serious-minded, bird listing is as vibrant, active and exciting as ever. Put two birders in a room together and before too long they'll know if the other saw the 2006 Long-billed Murrelet in Devon!

BUBO Listing is an attempt to provide a free, flexible and widely used site for the comparison of birding lists. The more people that use BUBO Listing, the better it will become for all users.

BUBO Listing is an online database similar to ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ which is familiar to Sri Lankan bird watchers. BUBO Listing provides facilities to record bird lists across the globe, simply for any country.

BUBO Listing recently accepted FOGSL checklist (Revised avifaunal list of Sri Lanka) as the official checklist for Sri Lanka.

Bird watching during the first quarter of the year 2010

Bird watchers, who do it as a hobby, can also participate in conservation programmes. ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ is such a ‘citizen science programme’. Through this initiative, data provided by bird watchers are taken into consideration for the conservation efforts, not only in Sri Lanka, but also in global level.

After nearly two years and four months from the launch of the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ database, number of observations recorded in the system reached 60,000 while number of visits arrived at 3000. Summary results of the analysis for the first quarter of the year 2010 are given in this report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 16th April 2010.

Membership
New members (70)
Total members (453)
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Number of visits (317)
Total Number of Observations (7240)
Number of Species (288)
Number of Endemic Species (25)
Number of Proposed endemic Species (7)
Number of migrant species (84)

Rare migrant species; White-headed stilt, Brown Noddy, European Bee-eater, Pied avocet, Blyth’s Pipit, Northern Shoveler, and vagrants; Ruddy Shelduck and Southern Grey Shrike, were among the noteworthy observations recorded during the three months period.

Nesting records
Number of observations (44)
Number of species (20)

Species - Asian Palm-swift, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Baya Weaver, Brown Hawk -owl, Brown-headed Barbet, Common Tailorbird, Coppersmith Barbet, Long-billed Sunbird, Oriental Magpie Robin, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Pied Kingfisher, Purple Swamphen, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Red-vented Bulbul, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Scaly-breasted Munia, Streaked Weaver, White-bellied Drongo, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Yellow-eyed Babbler

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Red-vented Bulbul (184)
Common Myna (184)
House Crow (181)
Blue-tailed Bee-eater (167)
Yellow-billed Babbler (160)
White-throated Kingfisher (160)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (2186)
Nadika Hapuarachchi (1131)
Ivan Maggini (705)
Amila Sumanapala (704)
Chaminda Jayarathna (674)

A total of 119 locations were visited during the period by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (1481) as in many previous months. Birding locations which were visited during the period showed wide range, including many sites in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

To see current statistics that describe the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, visit the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ .

Bird watching during the Christmas period - December 2009

‘Sri Lanka Birds’, Sri Lankan section of the global effort of bird conservation named ‘Worldbirds’ completed highly successful month by the end of December 2009. Number of observations recorded in the system reached 50,000; marking an important landmark during this month. Summary results of the analysis for December 2009 are given in this report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 17th January 2010.

Membership
New members (21)
Total members (407)
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Number of visits (151)
Total Number of Observations (3331)
Number of Species (234)
Number of Endemic Species (21)
Number of Proposed endemic Species (7)
Number of migrant species (55)

Total number of observations, number of species, and number of migrant species recorded for the month marked the highest values so far.

Bar-tailed Godwits recorded at Giant’s Tank and Vankalai National park were noteworthy observations recorded during the month.

Nesting records
Number of observations (17)
Number of species (13)

Species - Baya Weaver, Brahminy Kite, Shikra, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Brown-headed Barbet, Crimson-fronted Barbet, Common Myna, Dark-fronted Babbler, House Crow, White-browed Fantail, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Red-vented Bulbul, and Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Red-vented Bulbul (109)
Yellow-billed Babbler (88)
Common Myna (88)
White-throated Kingfisher (84)
House Crow (84)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (980)
Chandanie Wanigatunge (733)
Nadika Hapuarachchi (546)
Rahula Perera (224)
Nishantha Ganeshapriya (205)

A total of 84 locations were visited during December by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (560) as in many previous months. It is important to note that some of the locations of North and Eastern provinces were also visited by the members during the month.

Current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, are displayed on the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ .

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards conservation of birds through this initiative.

November 2009 – Most successful month for bird watching

FOGSL’s citizen science programme for bird conservation - ‘Sri Lanka Birds’, completed its most successful month by the end of November 2009. A short summary of the results obtained during the month of November is given in this brief report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 21st December 2009.

Membership
New members - 15
Total members - 385
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Total Number of Observations - 2883
Number of Species - 226
Number of Endemic Species - 22
Number of Proposed endemic Species - 7
Number of migrant species - 52

Highest number of observations for a month was recorded during November 2009. Number of species recorded during the month was the highest number recorded too. Maximum number of migrants was also recorded during this month. Brown Noddy and Sooty Tern at Gorapadu, Kalpitiya Sandwitch Tern at Keerimundel, Kalpitiya and Bar-tailed godwits at Gorapadu, Giant’s tank and Mannar were noteworthy observations recorded during the month.

Nesting records
Number of observations - 6
Number of species - 2
Purple-rumped Sunbird and Red-wattled Lapwing were the species observed with nesting activities. Brahminy Kite and Indian Robin were recorded in breeding stages other than nesting.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Blue-tailed Bee-eater (71)
Red-vented Bulbul (55)
House Crow (55)
Yellow-billed Babbler (53)
Rose-ringed Parakeet (46)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (705)
Nadika Hapuarachchi (568)
Amila Sumanapala (510)
Rahula Perera (450)
Chinthaka Kaluthota (390)

A total of 42 locations were visited during November by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (491) as in many previous months. Members were able to visit wide range of habitats during the month. Visits to the locations in the Northern Province are important since very limited number of locations of the region were previously visited.

Visit the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ to see current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system.

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards conservation of birds through this initiative.

It is DECEMBER again - the Bird Counting Month..!!

Bird Counting Month is an opportunity for you to pay attention to the birds. In ‘December’ Sri Lanka will be having the peak number of birds as it is middle of the migration season, hence the best time to do this exercise.

Participating for the Bird Counting is simple. What you have to do is to make a list of birds that you have been able to identify in a given location and email the records to fogsl@slt.lk or directly feed the data into "Sri Lanka Birds" database (http://www.worldbirds.org/srilanka). The list should include the date, time, location, weather at the time, the habitat that the bird observation is carried out, and the name and contact details of the observer. You can also include the number of each species seen at the location, so that this number can be used roughly to compare the population next year.

If you participated the Bird Counting last year, do the counting in the same area this year too. The list of birds and numbers can be tallied with the last few years. If the conditions of the counting are same, then yourself can have an assesment of the status of birds in that area.

Pass the message.. Get your friends to join too…!!

For more information on 'how to participate', read the announcement on the 'Bird counting month 2008'.

Bird Watching in October 2009 - ‘Sri Lanka Birds’

‘Sri Lanka Birds’, online data base for bird observations around the country, completed another successful month by the end of October 2009. A short summary of the results obtained during the month of October is given in this brief report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 16th November 2009.

Membership
New members -9
Total members -370
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Total Number of Observations -1753
Number of Species -178
Number of Endemic Species -22
Number of Proposed endemic Species -7
Number of migrant species -20

Nesting records
Number of observations -14
Number of species -10
Baya Weaver, Black-crowned Night Heron, Common Tailorbird, Great Cormorant, Great Egret, House Sparrow, Intermediate Egret, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Rose-ringed Parakeet and Scaly-breasted Munia were the species observed with nesting activities.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
House Crow (60)
Yellow-billed Babbler (55)
Red-vented Bulbul (54)
White-throated Kingfisher (51)
White-bellied Drongo (51)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (661)
Nadika Hapuarachchi (373)
Rahula Perera (215)
Amila Sumanapala (205)
Susantha Weerappulige(63)

A total of 34 locations were visited during October by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (389) as in many previous months. Most of the locations visited during the month were in Colombo city.

Current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, are displayed on the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ - www.worldbirds.org/srilanka.

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards conservation of birds through this initiative.

‘Sri Lanka Birds’ in the month of September 2009

‘Sri Lanka Birds’, Sri Lankan section of the global effort of bird conservation named ‘Worldbirds’ completed another fruitful month by the end of September 2009. Summary results of the analysis for September are given in this report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 14th October 2009.

Membership
New members -14
Total members -361
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Total Number of Observations -1557
Number of Species -198
Number of Endemic Species -21
Number of Proposed endemic Species - 7
Number of migrant species -32
Sand Martins and Great knots observed at Bundala National Park and Bar-tailed Godwits observed at Yala National Park are noteworthy records entered during the month.

Nesting records
Number of observations -4
Number of species - 3
Black-hooded Oriole, Red-vented Bulbul and Black Eagle were the species observed with nesting activities.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Red-vented Bulbul (55)
Yellow-billed Babbler (51)
White-throated Kingfisher (51)
Common Myna (50)
House Crow (38)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (428)
Kasun Dayananda (372)
Nadika Hapuarachchi (303)
Chinthaka Kaluthota (149)
Amila Sumanapala (92)

A total of 42 locations were visited during September by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (360) as in many previous months. Many new locations were added to the system with interesting visits during the month.

Current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, are displayed on the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’.

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards conservation of birds through this initiative.

Bird observations during the month of August

‘Sri Lanka Birds’, web based data entry system for Sri Lanka completed another successful month by the end of August. An analysis of data entered by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members for the month of August is provided in this brief report. The analysis is based on the data downloaded on 14th September 2009.

Membership
New members 10
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community. FOGSL hopes they will enjoy the system while contributing towards the conservation of Sri Lankan birds.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 1714
Number of Species 149
Number of Endemic Species 22
Number of Proposed endemic Species 7
Number of migrant species 9
Observations of Wire-tailed Swallow, which is vagrant to Sri Lanka, at Kanthale tank and Nilaveli Beach by Nadika Hapuarachchi are noteworthy records.

Nesting records
Number of observations 16
Number of species 8
Species (Black-throated Munia, Brown-headed Barbet, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Cormorant, House Crow, Red-vented Bulbul, and Oriental Magpie Robin)
Red-vented Bulbul and Brown Hawk-owl were also reported in breeding stages other than nesting.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Red-vented Bulbul (67)
House Crow (65)
Common Myna (60)
Yellow-billed Babbler (54)
White-bellied Drongo (48) and Common Tailorbird (48)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (659)
Nadika Hapuarachchi(313)
Rahula Perera (221)
Chinthaka Kaluthota (157)
Nirama (126)

A total of 40 locations were visited during August by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (519) as in many previous months. It is important to notice more visits to the Eastern province, which was rarely visited by birders in earlier months.

Visit the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ www.worldbirds.org/srilanka to see current statistics that shows the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system.

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards the conservation of birds through this initiative.

Birds we watched during the month of July

‘Sri Lanka Birds’, online data base for bird observations around the country, completed another successful month by the end of July 2009. A short summary of the results obtained during the month of July is given in this brief report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 17th August 2009.

Membership
New members 10
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ family. FOGSL encourages them to record their bird observations in the system as it will contribute to the conservation of Sri Lankan birds.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 1663
Number of Species 170
Number of Endemic Species 21
Number of Proposed endemic Species 7
Number of migrant species 7


Nesting records
Number of observations 18
Number of species 9
Species (Black-headed Munia, Common Myna, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Cormorant, House Crow, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Yellow-fronted Barbet and White-bellied Drongo)
Oriental Magpie Robin, Brown-headed Barbet, White-rumped Shama and White-breasted Waterhen were also reported in breeding stages other than nesting.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Red-vented Bulbul (63)
Oriental Magpie Robin (53)
White-throated Kingfisher (51)
Common Myna (49)
White bellied Drongo (48)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (762)
Rahula Perera (202)
Nadika Hapuarachchi (196)
Nishantha Ganeshapriya (181)
Chandanie Wanigatunge (170)


A total of 37 locations were visited during July by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (390) as in many previous months.

Latest values for the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system are shown in the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ www.worldbirds.org/srilanka.

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards the conservation of birds through this initiative.

Bird observations during the month of June

‘Worldbirds’, the data base for bird observations around the globe, now have 133 countries online. Total observations recorded in the system exceeded two million recently. Its Sri Lankan counterpart “Sri Lanka Birds” was able to record 2000 visits with nearly 38,000 bird observations recently.

This brief report provides an analysis of data entered by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members for the month of June. The analysis is based on the data downloaded on 21st July 2009.

Membership
New members 13
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community. FOGSL hopes they will enjoy the system while contributing towards the conservation of Sri Lankan birds.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 1316
Number of Species 138
Number of Endemic Species 22
Number of Proposed endemic Species 6
Number of migrant species 4

Nesting records
Number of observations 22
Number of species 10
Species (Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Cormorant, House Crow, Jungle Crow, House Swift, Purple Sunbird, Red-vented Bulbul, Spotted Dove and White-bellied Sea-Eagle)
Pale-billed Flowerpecker was also reported in breeding stages other than nesting.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
House Crow (54)
White-bellied Drongo (50)
Common Myna (47)
Red-vented Bulbul (46)
Common Tailorbird (45)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (559)
Rahula Perera (332)
Amila Sumanapala (208)
Nadika Hapuarachchi(167)
Rienzie Fernando (25)

A total of 32 locations were visited during June by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (381) as in many previous months. It is important to notice some visits to the Eastern province during the month.

Current statistics that shows the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system are given in the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ www.worldbirds.org/srilanka.

Contributions of members towards the conservation of birds through this initiative are highly appreciated by the FOGSL.

Birds observed during the month of May

The month of May with long ‘Vesak’ holidays provided more birding opportunities to our members. Therefore Vesak month was a very successful month for the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ web-based data entry system. This report provides an analysis of data entered by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members for the month of May. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 17th June 2009.

Membership
New members 12
Total members 307
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community. FOGSL hopes they will enjoy the system while contributing towards the conservation of Sri Lankan birds.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 1474
Number of Species 172
Number of Endemic Species 18
Number of Proposed endemic Species 7
Number of migrant species 24

Observations of Lesser Adjutant at Udawalawa and Ruhuna national Parks, Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush at Sinharaja, Black Drongo at Mihinthale are noteworthy records. Considerably higher number of migrants was also reported during the month.

Nesting records
Number of observations 14
Number of species 7
Species (Red-wattled Lapwing, Black-winged Stilt, Brahminy Kite, White-browed Fantail, Crested Tree-swift, House Crow and Oriental Magpie Robin) .

Three other species (Great Thick-knee, Black-hooded Oriole, Scaly-breasted Sunbird) and Black-winged Stilt were reported in breeding stages other than nesting.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Common Myna (52)
Yellow-billed Babbler (48)
Red-vented Bulbul (47)
House Crow (46)
Cattle Egret (44)ள

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (550)
Chandanie Wanigatunge (321)
Rahula Perera (208)
Nishantha Ganeshapriya (139)
Sujatha Mayadunnage (88)

A total of 29 locations were visited during May by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (415) as in many previous months.

Visit the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ to see current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system.

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards the conservation of birds through this initiative.

Birds observed during the festive month

‘Sri Lanka Birds’ ; Sri Lankan section of the global web-based data entry system ‘worldbirds’ completed another successful month by the end of April 2009. This report provides an analysis of data entered by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members for the month of the Sinhala New Year. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 15th May 2009.

Membership
New members 17
Total members 295
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 1214
Number of Species 165
Number of Endemic Species 7
Number of Proposed endemic Species 6
Number of migrant species 30

Observations of Bar-tailed Godwit, Greater Flamingo and Yellow wagtail at Bundala are noteworthy records. Number of endemic species recorded in the system for the month was very low compared to previous months. The total number of observations recorded in the system was also low compared to earlier months.

Nesting records
Number of observations 15
Number of species 14

Species (White-bellied Drongo, Spotted Dove, Black-hooded Oriole, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Common Tailorbird, Black-naped Monarch, Brown-headed Barbet, White-rumped Munia, Scaly-breasted Munia, Black-crowned Night-heron, Little Egret, White-bellied Fish-eagle, Sri Lanka Grey-hornbill, House Crow)

Three other species (Oriental Magpie Robin, Crimson-fronted Barbet, Long-billed Sunbird) and Black-hooded Oriole and Little Egret were reported in breeding stages other than nesting.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
House Crow (47)
White-throated Kingfisher (43)
Common Myna (42)
Cattle Egret (41)
Yellow-billed Babbler (40)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (557)
Uditha Wijesena(172)
Dharshana Ranatunga (149)
Chaminda Jayaratna (104)
Amila Sumanapala (89)

A total of 25 locations were visited during April by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (276) as in many previous months.

To see current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, visit the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ - www.worldbirds.org/srilanka .

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards the conservation of birds through this initiative.

Birds observed during March 2009

‘Sri Lanka Birds’, a citizen science programme to ensure people’s participation towards the conservation of birds, completed another successful month by the end of March 2009. This report provides an analysis of data entered by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members for the month. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 14th April 2009.

Membership
New members 24
Total members 278
FOGSL warmly welcomes new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 1492
Number of Species 195
Number of Endemic Species 16
Number of Proposed endemic Species 7
Number of migrant species 38

Observations of Brahminy Starling, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Yellow Wagtail and Malayan Night-heron are noteworthy records. Most significant observation recorded in the system was the sighting of Goliath Heron at Arugam Bay by Salindra Kasun Dayananda on 10th March. Goliath Heron was reported only in handful of occasions in Sri Lanka and therefore considered as a vagrant. Detailed report on this observation will be published shortly.

Nesting records
Number of observations 11
Number of species 9
Species (Black-rumped Flameback, Brown Hawk-owl, Brown-backed Needletail, Common Hoopoe, House Crow, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Red-vented Bulbul, Spotted Dove, White-bellied Drongo)
Two other species i.e. Drongo Cuckoo and Pheasant-tailed Jacana were reported in breeding stages other than nesting.

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
House Crow (62)
Red-vented Bulbul (59)
White-bellied Drongo (52)
Yellow-billed Babbler (51)
Common Tailorbird (48)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (660)
Rienzie Fernando(377)
Chandanie Wanigatunge (163)
Salindra Kasun Dayananda (122)
Sandun Perera (101)

A total of 34 locations were visited during March by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (428) as in many previous months.

Current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, are displayed on the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ - www.worldbirds.org/srilanka .

FOGSL highly appreciates the contributions of members towards the conservation of birds through this initiative.

‘Sri Lanka Birds’ in the month of February 2009

‘Sri Lanka Birds’, Sri Lankan section of the global effort of bird conservation named ‘Worldbirds’ completed another fruitful month by the end of February 2009. Summary results of the analysis for February are given in this report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 21st March 2009.

Membership
New members 15
Total members 254
We warmly welcome new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 1446
Number of Species 178
Number of Endemic Species 8
Number of Proposed endemic Species 7
Number of migrant species 34

Nesting records
Number of observations 5
Number of species 5
Species (Brown-headed Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback, Shikra, Indian Roller, Brahminy Kite)

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Yellow-billed Babbler (57)
Red-vented Bulbul (49)
House Crow (48)
Common Myna (48)
Oriental Magpie Robin (46)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Newton Jayawardane (558)
Chandanie Wanigatunge (164)
Chaminda Jayaratne (161)
Rienzie Fernando(141)
Rahula Perera (141)


A total of 36 locations were visited during February by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Ragama (346) as in many previous months.

Current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, are displayed on the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ - www.worldbirds.org/srilanka .

We would like to thank all the members for entering their valuable observations into Sri Lanka Birds. We highly appreciate the contributions of members towards conservation of birds through this initiative.

‘Sri Lanka Birds’ during the first month of 2009

‘Sri Lanka Birds’ web based data entry system for Sri Lanka completed another successful month by the end of January 2009. Summary results of the analysis for January are given in this report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 27th February 2009.

Membership
New members 22
Total members 239
We warmly welcome new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 1856
Number of Species 194
Number of Endemic Species 18
Number of Proposed endemic Species 7
Number of migrant species 50

Nesting records
Number of observations 6
Number of species 5
Species (Common Tailorbird, Oriental Magpie Robin, Purple-rumped Sunbird. Red-vented Bulbul, White-rumped Munia)

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Red-vented Bulbul (76)
Common Myna (67)
House Crow (66)
Spotted Dove (65)
Blue-tailed Bee-eater (64)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Dilshan De Silva (597)
Newton Jayawardane (423)
Kusum Fernando (189)
Chaminda Jayaratne (104)
Salindra Kasun Dayananda (85)


A total of 35 locations were visited during January by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. Highest number of observations was made at Daluwa - Nirmalapura (Puttlum) (345).

Current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, are displayed on the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ - www.worldbirds.org/srilanka .

We would like to thank all the members for entering their valuable observations into Sri Lanka Birds. We highly appreciate the contributions of members towards conservation of birds through this initiative.

We wish you happy birding.

Administrator of “Sri Lanka Birds”
Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka

30,000 bird observations in 15 months

‘Sri Lanka Birds’, web based data entry system for Sri Lanka (www.worldbirds.org/srilanka) reached another landmark today. Number of bird observations recorded in the system reached 30,000 showing the value of peoples’ participation for conservation. This is very important achievement for the conservation of Birds in Sri Lanka. Members achieved this within a period of 15 months.

'Sri Lanka Birds' was launched on 7th December 2007, as a part of global conservation effort (www.worldbirds.org) initiated by BirdLife International. Current statistics describing the number of visits, number of observations and bird species recorded, as well as the number of users registered in the system, are displayed on the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ - www.worldbirds.org/srilanka.

FOGSL wishes to thank all the members who contribute to the system by providing their valuable observations.

‘Sri Lanka Birds’ in the bird counting month

FOGSL conducted its annual ‘Bird Counting Month’ programme last December to assess the status of the birds of Sri Lanka. Members of the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ web based data entry system also participated in the programme. December 2008 marked the most successful month of the system, as our members recorded the highest number of observations during the month after the launch of the system. Summary results of the analysis for December are given in this report. This analysis is based on the data downloaded on 16th February 2009. Final analysis of the ‘Bird Counting Month’ data, including the data received through other media will be published later.

Membership
A total of 15 new members have registered during the month. We warmly welcome new members to the ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ community.

Observations
Total Number of Observations 3181
Number of Species 239
Number of Endemic Species 24
Number of Proposed endemic Species 7
Number of migrant species 51

Nesting records
Number of observations 10
Number of species 7
Species (Baya Weaver, Cattle Egret, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Red-vented Bulbul, Scaly-breasted Munia, Silverbilll, White-rumped Munia)

Mostly recorded species (No: of observations)
Red-vented Bulbul (112)
Yellow-billed Babbler (99)
Common Myna (99)
House Crow (93)
White-throated Kingfisher (84)

Top five users (No: of observations)
Chandanie Wanigatunge (576)
Newton Jayawardane (558)
Salindra Kasun Dayananda (399)
Dilshan De Silva (350)
Darshana Ranatunga (247)

A total of 85 locations were visited during December by ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ members. This is the highest number of locations visited during a month after the launch of the database. As in the previous month, highest number of observations was made at Ragama (350).

Current statistics describing the number of field visits, number of observations and bird species, as well as the number of users registered in the system, are displayed on the login page of ‘Sri Lanka Birds’ - www.worldbirds.org/srilanka .

We would like to thank all the members for entering their valuable observations into Sri Lanka Birds. We highly appreciate the contributions of members towards conservation of birds through this initiative.

We wish you happy birding.

Administrator of “Sri Lanka Birds”

Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka