October 18-November 4, 2025 with Megan Edwards Crewe & local guide Deepal Warakagoda
The lovely island of Sri Lanka is off the radar screen for many birders, and that's unfortunate, because it offers a plethora of enticements: dozens of endemics, numerous regional specialties, comfortable (often upscale) lodgings, excellent spicy curries, a fine network of parks which protect a variety of habitats, and an interesting local culture. Our two-week sojourn around the southern half of the country took us to some great spots -- and brought us face to face with many of the feathered inhabitants of the island. While we certainly got more than our share of rain this year, we were still able to find most of the endemics possible along our route, and lots of other species as well. And we got to do it with a group of long-established friends, which always adds to the fun.
We started our adventures with an afternoon's ramble around the extensive grounds of our Colombo hotel, where we found our first Sri Lankan endemic -- the impressively large and colorful Red-backed Flameback -- plus a host of more widespread species. Chattering groups of Yellow-billed Babblers bounced across the lawns, handsome Black-hooded Orioles posed against leafy backdrops, an Oriental Honey-Buzzard surveyed its surroundings from its perch on a coconut palm, Little Cormorants dried their wings on a tangle of downed sticks and a couple of Red-billed Lapwings huddled in a grassy field. We finished the day with 37 species, including a wide-eyed Indian Scops-Owl that peered down at us from its canopy perch after dark.
The following morning, we worked our way east to Kitulgala, stopping along the way at several spots overlooking rice paddies. Black-headed Ibis poked and prodded, a lone Medium Egret mingled with a gang of Little Egrets, Indian Pond-Herons crouched alongside Red-wattled Lapwings and Rusty-bellied Sri Lanka Swallows swirled overhead. The Kitulgala Rest House sits right on the banks of the Kelani River, famous as the site of the epic movie "Bridge on the River Kwai". As usual, the hotel gardens were nicely productive, with good looks at White-throated Flowerpecker, Common Iora, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Sri Lanka Hanging-Parrot, Layard’s Parakeet and others in trees literally right outside the dining room doors. While frustratingly persistent rain kept us from fully exploring the Makandawa Forest reserve, we did bird its fringes -- and got to experience crossing the river in a canoe ferry. Noisy gangs of Orange-billed Babblers boiled through the trees. A Green-billed Coucal eyed us from a tangle of bushes. An Indian Pitta sat on a branch just above eye level, calling softly as we admired its jewel-bright colors. A Banded Bay Cuckoo sang (and sang and sang) from a trackside tree, allowing us to study it in the scopes. Spot-winged Thrushes scurried through the undergrowth, Black-capped Bulbuls flicked through treetops and we found our first Brown-capped Babblers.
Still more rain plagued us at Sinharaja, but we persisted despite the raindrops (and the resulting bumper crop of leeches) and had some truly super finds. We were rewarded for our very early morning departure to a small private feeding station when a furtive pair of Sri Lanka Spurfowl and an Asian Emerald Dove crept in for a few minutes before the bully-boy Sri Lanka Junglefowl chased them away. We encountered a big mixed flock right near the park’s entrance gate one gloomy afternoon, getting great looks at Ashy-headed Laughingthrush, Sri Lanka Drongo, Lesser Yellownape, Indian Paradise-Flycatcher, Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler, Malabar Trogon, and Sri Lanka Blue-Magpie. The Red-faced Malkoha there was less cooperative, but fortunately, we enjoyed a much showier quartet of them along the road between our hotel and the park one morning when our driver spotted them overhead as we rocketed past. We had good looks at a stakeout pair of Sri Lanka Frogmouths and – after bushwhacking our way up and down several steep, slippery, leech-infested hills – finally laid eyes on a pointblank Serendib Scops-Owl, which handily won the “Bird of the Trip” competition. We picked up a lovely pair of Plum-headed Parakeets while trying again in vain for the Chestnut-backed Owlet near our hotel on the morning we left Sinharaja.
From Sinharaja, we moved south and east to Uda Walawe National Park, where we took a late afternoon jeep safari into the park. The reserve was established to house animals displaced by the creation of the nearby reservoir, with Asian Elephants being the key species. We had a handful of close animals, including two looming right near the track in the dusk as we exited the park. An Indian Roller sat atop a pole near the entrance, a little group of Yellow-wattled Lapwings tiptoed across the grass, and Jerdon's Bushlarks rummaged for tidbits. A pair of White-tailed Ioras danced through a bush top. A pair of Blue-faced Malkohas, normally real skulkers, sat right in the open for several minutes. Multiple pairs of Barred Buttonquail scrabbled in the dust or scurried across the roads. And it didn't rain!
We headed south to Bundala National Park well before dawn the following day and spent the morning on another jeep safari through that vast wetland park. As one would expect, there were plenty of waterbirds on show! Dozens of Lesser Whistling-Ducks dotted the marshy plains, Gray-headed Swamphens trundled around the vegetated pools. A couple of Eurasian Spoonbills mingled with the colorful Painted Storks, dozens of Black-tailed Godwits and Great Thick-knees pattered across grassy stretches, and mixed flocks of Whiskered and White-winged terns fluttered low along the roadsides. In an area of extensive salt pans, we found several big flocks of resting terns, with Great Crested and Lesser Crested terns probably the highlights. Nearby, Small and Oriental pratincoles rested on the causeways and dozens of shorebirds pattered along the pan edges. A handful of Red-necked Phalaropes mingled with a few dozen Tibetan Sand-Plovers, small numbers of Little Stints, Common Redshanks, and Common Greenshanks, and a single Curlew Sandpiper. A busy party of Sri Lanka Woodshrikes hunted in a stand of shrubby trees and hundreds of Rosy Starlings (all immatures) flew back and forth across the site. A late afternoon ramble near the “tank” (aka reservoir) in Tissamaharama netted us some nest-building Baya Weavers, a White-naped Woodpecker hitching its way up several palm trunks, a Clamorous Reed-Warbler shouting from a reed bed, and a furtive Jungle Owlet. Spot-billed Pelicans floated under thousands upon thousands of roosting Indian Flying Foxes, and as dusk fell, an Eastern Barn Owl stretched its wings before heading off for a night of hunting.
The following morning, we headed east in another pair of safari jeeps towards the rising sun and Yala National Park. There, we faced the hordes of “regular” tourists (nearly all inexplicably without binoculars) also heading into the park at first light. Fortunately, after the initial "drag race", things got quieter. The day's top sighting was undoubtedly the pair of Leopards we found up a tree with their kill. It took us a while to work our way through the scrum of vehicles to where we could see them (and why most people were even trying to do so without binoculars is beyond me), but we had pretty good looks once we did. Elsewhere in the park, we watched a Black-necked Stork stalk past along the edge of one pond and a Brown Fish-Owl on a low branch right beside the road. White-tailed and Common ioras side-by-side in the same tree gave us a great chance to study their differences. We finished the day at another tank near Tissa. Crested Treeswifts zipped overhead, a Watercock crept through the reeds, and a group of Malabar Pied Hornbills landed in a nearby treetop. We finished the day with some stupendously close Jerdon’s Nightjars hunting from low snags right beside the road.
We left for the highlands after a leisurely breakfast the following morning, stopping for an hour’s walk along the entrance road for Lunugamvehera National Park along the way. A little group of Dark-fronted Babblers rummaged through the underbrush with a male Indian Paradise-Flycatcher sailing back and forth like a little comet nearby. A Sri Lanka Shama (one of the country's newest endemics) sang from a low branch, demonstrating why they're targeted by the caged-bird trade. A Loten’s Sunbird bounced through trees over the track. Then it was the long, slow drive up the mountain highway (trapped behind an interminable line of trucks and buses) to our next hotel, where we arrived in time for a late lunch. We spent the late afternoon in a residential garden, watching for their regular Sri Lanka Whistling-Thrush. About half the group got reasonable looks at a furtive female, while the rest never got on the right spot. Asian Tits and Sri Lanka Bush-Warblers were more cooperative, flitting about in the open or visiting bushes right near where we stood.
We reached the tour's highest elevation the next day, at Horton Plains National Park. Wandering along the road through a multitude of flowering plants, we found most of the highland species we were searching for. A very cooperative female Sri Lanka Whistling-Thrush was top of the list; periodically, she sat right out in the open. Chattering groups of Sri Lanka White-eyes cartwheeled through the trees. A Yellow-eared Bulbul preened in a treetop. Gray-headed Canary-Flycatchers and Dull-blue Flycatchers sallied over a scenic roadside pond or along the road. A matte-black Indian Blackbird flicked through low vegetation, briefly raising hopes of a male whistling-thrush. An Alpine Swift rocketed overhead and Hill Swallows swooped over the plains or sat on roof peaks. Pied Bushchats perched on spikes of native bamboo, and a massive, heavily antlered Sambar lay in the shade of a tree behind one of the park buildings. After lunch and a break at the hotel, we spent the late afternoon at the Hakgala Botanical Garden, where we finally tracked down a pair of Sri Lanka Woodpigeons. A trio of calling Crimson-backed Flamebacks spiraled around a tree trunk, our first Velvet-fronted Nuthatches swiveled on a branch over the trail, and a troop of the very woolly highland subspecies of Purple-faced Leaf-Monkey clambered through trees across the track . A pre-breakfast visit to Victoria Park the following morning failed to produce our hoped-for Pied Thrush, but we did have great views of the stupendously range-restricted Kashmir Flycatcher and a Forest Wagtail.
After breakfast, we headed towards Kandy, stopping en route for a visit to a tea plantation for a tour of their production facilities, a tea tasting (silver, pink, green, gold, and English breakfast) and cake. We arrived at our next hotel in time for a late lunch and a short break before heading out for some birding on the grounds. Crimson-fronted Barbets tooted from a tree over our rooms, Southern Hill Mynas showed their wattles nicely as they flicked through the treetops, and a Golden-fronted Leafbird checked out flower clusters. A pair of Black-headed Cuckooshrikes hunted in loose association with Black-hooded Orioles and Brown and Yellow-fronted barbets while a group of Sri Lanka Green-Pigeons gobbled berries from a nearby fruiting bush. More than half the group cut short the afternoon's birding to visit the Temple of the Tooth (Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist temple) in Kandy while the rest kept birding with Deepal, finding a pair of Brown Wood-Owls once darkness fell. And we all met up for an orange-tinged Halloween dinner, complete with band, skeleton cookies and an unexpected live bat!
As we made our way out of Kandy the following morning, we stopped at a gem store (at the group's request) and bought enough bits and pieces that the proprietors probably closed early in celebration! A few hours later, we made another stop at a spice garden for a brief tour and further purchases. We then finished with a few days around Sigiriya, birding the dry forest, scattered tanks and plentiful agricultural fields that surround Lion Rock, an impressive magma plug topped by the remnants of an ancient fortress and castle. A couple of Asian Woolly-necked Storks prodded the ground in a flooded field, with some Indian Pond-Herons and Asian Openbills foraging nearby. In the shadowy swamp forest along the back side of the Lion Rock complex, we found a showy Orange-headed Thrush scurrying around in the leaf litter and an Indian Blue Robin flicking from low branches to the ground and back nearby. As dusk fell on our first evening, we heard a young Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl calling from the forest, and – after considerable effort – managed to track it down to where it was perched. The following morning, a trio of Coppersmith Barbets tooted from branches near the castle's expansive moat while a Small Minivet made repeated sallies from a nearby treetop. Along a road near Amaya Lake, we scurried from shade patch to shade patch in search of Pygmy Cotton-Goose, finally locating a quartet floating among the lily pads while Pheasant-tailed Jacanas tiptoed across other pads close to the road. A couple of Little Grebes dove repeatedly under the pond's surface and a trio of Common Kingfishers carried on an extended conversation from branches along its edges. Hundreds of hopeful Eastern Cattle-Egrets trailed along behind a laboring tractor while a Black-winged Kite hovered overhead. A Tawny-bellied Babbler worked through some weedy bushes while a Gray-winged Prinia peered around from a bare shrub and an Indian Cuckooshrike shouted challenges from a leafy tree along the tank's edge.
After lunch and a break, we headed north of Sigiriya for the afternoon, stopping along a side road thick with trees -- and those trees didn’t disappoint! A Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo sang its rising "I'm a drongo-cuckoo" from a treetop, a Golden-fronted leafbirds worked through a tree, followed minutes later by a Jerdon's Leafbird, stocky Orange-breasted and Sri Lanka Green-Pigeons sat stolidly among the branches and we spotted the tour's only Thick-billed Flowerpecker among. On our last morning, we FINALLY found a pair of highly-coveted Black-backed Dwarf Kingfishers in a stretch of woodland a bit further north. We added an Ashy Woodswallow at a leg stretch and rest stop on our drive back to Colombo and finished the day with an outstandingly cooperative pair of Brown Boobooks in the airport hotel garden – calling back and forth and sitting in the open about 50 feet from the main lobby. What a fine way to end the tour!
Thanks so much for sharing the adventure. It was good fun birding with all of you. Thanks, too, for coping with the less than ideal conditions we were faced with -- I'm sure that was more rain than any of us ever hoped to see! I hope to see all of you again somewhere, some day. Meanwhile, good birding!
Other critters of interest:
Mammals:
Indian Flying Fox (Pteropus medius)
Indian Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus coromandra)
Least Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus tenuis)
Toque Macaque (Macaca sinica)
Tufted Gray Langur (Semnopithecus priam)
Purple-faced Langur (Semnopithecus vetulus)
Indian Hare (Lepus nigricollis)
Indian Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista philippensis)
Indian Palm Squirrel (Funambulus palmarum)
Layard's Palm Squirrel (Funambulus layardi)
Dusky Palm Squirrel (Funambulus sublineatus)
Sri Lankan Giant Squirrel (Ratufa macroura)
Roof Rat (Rattus rattus)
Golden Jackal (Canis aureus)
Indian Gray Mongoose (Urva edwardsii)
Ruddy Mongoose (Urva smithii)
Indian Brown Mongoose (Urva fusca)
Leopard (Panthera pardus)
Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus)
Chital (Axis axis)
Sambar (Rusa unicolor)
Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)
Herps:
Common House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus)
Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris)
Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes)
Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor)
Hump-nosed Lizard (Lyriocephalus scutatus)
Rhino-horned Lizard (Ceratophora stoddartii)
Sri Lanka Kangaroo Lizard (Otocryptis wiegmanni)
Water Monitor (Varanus salvator)
Bengal (Land) Monitor (Varanus bengalensis)
Indian Rat Snake (Ptyas mucosa)
Indian Black Turtle (Melanochelys trijuga)
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/424724
You can see my iNaturalist report of non-avian taxa at this link: https://uk.inaturalist.org/projects/sri-lanka-2025-6daf6648-c416-4282-98d9-2c9717a84e2d
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/sri25pTRIPLIST.pdf
-- Megan