Common Birds of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's national bird — a spectacular pheasant with orange, black, and crimson plumage, common and bold in national park campgrounds.

The most spectacular of Sri Lanka's endemics — a vivid blue and chestnut magpie that moves through Sinharaja in noisy family groups, often leading mixed feeding flocks.

An extraordinary cryptic bird that looks exactly like a broken tree stub when roosting in daylight — specialist night-birding in Sinharaja's interior is required for sightings.

Discovered only in 2004 — one of only two endemic owls in Sri Lanka, restricted to the lowland rainforest of the wet zone; responds readily to playback at night in Sinharaja.

A tiny hanging parrot found only in Sri Lanka — vivid green with a crimson patch and orange-red rump, it feeds on nectar in flowering forest canopy trees.

A secretive endemic partridge of dark rainforest understory — explosive launch when startled is usually the only sighting, unless located via its far-carrying territorial cackle.

One of four endemic cuckoos in Sri Lanka — the vivid crimson facial skin against black-and-white plumage makes it striking when it moves slowly through dense vine tangles.

A starling endemic to Sri Lanka's dry zone — smaller and more slender than Common Myna, it forages around large mammals and nests in tree cavities in scrubland.