Gray-headed Lapwing (Vanellus cinereus)

A very rare vagrant, with only a few records from the north-western and south-eastern regions of the country. It frequents still-water and short-grass habitats, including dry paddy fields and pasture lands, where it often associates with other waders. Although generally gregarious and known to form flocks of up to 40–50 individuals elsewhere, all Sri Lankan records have involved solitary birds. The species breeds in North-East Asia and winters in South-East Asia. This individual was observed on 4th January 2025 at the Kerawalapitiya waste disposal site near Muturajawela in the Gampaha District.

මහා ලිහිණි ඔලෙය්යා/පෙරදිගු ජවසැරියා (Glareola maldivarum)

එතරම් සුලභ නොවන ලෙස ස්ථානීය වශයෙන් වෙරළබඩ  වියලි විවෘත භූමි සහ තෘණ භූමි වලත් පහත රට වියලි කලාපයේ වැව් ඉවුරු ආශ්‍රිතවත් හමුවන දේශීය පක්ෂියෙකි. එසේම උත්තර අර්ධගෝලයේ රටවල ශීත සෘතුව පවතින මාස වලදී මෙරටට සංචාරය කරන පක්ෂීන්ද සිටින අතර, ඇතැම් විට ඔවුන් විශාල රංචු ලෙසින්ද හමුවේ. කුඩා සහ විශාල රංචු ලෙසින් දිවිගෙවන මහ ලිහිණි ඔලෙයියන් උදෑසන සහ සවස් කාලයේදී ක්‍රියාශීලි වන අතර කුරුමිණියන්, සලබයන් වේයන් වැනි පියාඹන කෘමීන් බොහෝවිට රංචු ලෙසින් ඉගිලී ගොස් ගොදුරු කරගනී. දිවා කාලයේදී පොළව මත විවේකීව සිටින අතර ඇතැම් අවස්ථා වලදී ඔලෙවියන් මෙන් එහෙ මෙහෙ දුවන අයුරු නිරීක්ෂණය කල හැක. මාර්තු සිට ජූලි දක්වා කාලයේ කූඩුවක් නොසාදා පොළොව මත, බොහෝවිට වියලි ගොම ගොඩක් මත බිත්තර දෙකක් දමා අභිජනනය කරයි.

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Collared Pratincole/දිඟු පෙඳ ලිහිණි ඔලෙය්යා/මාල ජවසැරියා (Glareola pratincola)

 Rather rare winter migrant to dry coastal lowlands. Gregarious and few to several birds keep together in bare ground around coastal wetlands. The Collared Pratincole feeds on insects both in flight and on the ground, mainly in the late afternoon or during overcast weather. During the heat of the day, it rests on bare ground or short grass, especially near water. It breeds from the Mediterranean region through Central Asia to Pakistan, and also in parts of Africa.

Pied Harrier/ගෝමර බිම් උකුස්සා/ගෝමර හැරිකුස්සා (Circus melanoleucos)

A very rare winter migrant to open scrubland, grasslands, marshes, and paddy fields across the country, mainly in the dry lowlands. It typically glides slowly just a few feet above the ground over marshes, paddy fields, and other open habitats, feeding on frogs, rodents, lizards, small birds, snakes, grasshoppers, and similar prey. It often perches on the ground and roosts at night in open fields and marshes, sometimes loosely associating with other harriers of the same or different species. The Pied Harrier breeds in the tundra regions of eastern Asia.

Western Marsh Harrier/වගුරු බිම් උකුස්සා/වගුරු හැරිකුස්සා (Circus aeruginosus)

An uncommon winter migrant to marshes, grasslands, and paddy fields throughout the country, mainly in the lowlands. It is usually encountered as a solitary bird and feeds on frogs, water snakes, fish, and water birds such as teals and waterhens, as well as small mammals and insects including grasshoppers. It hunts with a slow, sailing flight close to the ground. Like other harriers, it often perches on the ground and probably roosts there at night, though it also frequently perches in trees.  The Western Marsh Harrier breeds in Europe and Asia, north of the Himalayas.

Blue Rock-Thrush (philippensis)/නිල් වල් අවිච්චියා/නිල් ගල්සැරියා (Monticola solitarius philippensis)

The Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius pandoo) is a rather rare but regular migrant, occurring locally on large rock outcrops, boulders, and scattered small rocks in open areas of mountain slopes in the dry lowlands and hills. During its stay in Sri Lanka, it is mostly encountered as a solitary bird and feeds on small insects on the ground. It breeds in the hills of Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and the Himalayas.

The bird featured in this post belongs to the subspecies philippensis, recorded for the first time in Sri Lanka at the Inginiyagala Reservoir Dam site during the 2025–2026 migratory season. This subspecies breeds in eastern Mongolia, northeastern China, Korea, Japan, coastal Taiwan, and the northern Philippines.

නර කරඹ/මුඩ මහණ (Blumea obliqua)

 An indigenous annual herb common in sandy or clayey areas especially near the sea in the dry zone. Flowering from December to June (Probably throughout the year)

Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)

An uncommon winter migrant to coastal lagoons, other coastal wetlands and freshwater habitats of the dry lowlands, occurring mainly in the north and rarely in the wet lowlands. The Northern Shoveler is usually found in small to large flocks and feeds on small larvae and other invertebrates by sieving surface water with its bill. It breeds in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

 

Orange-headed Thrush/තැඹිලි වල් අවිච්චියා (Geokichla citrina)

Rather rare winter migrant to forests, scrublands, and well-wooded gardens with undergrowth, from lowlands to the lower hills. A very shy bird, the Orange-headed Thrush during its stay in Sri Lanka usually occurs as solitary individuals, keeping to dense cover close to the ground within a small territory. It feeds on insects, insect larvae, spiders, and berries. It breeds in the Himalayas.

Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis)

Rare winter migrant to forests, plantations, and wooded gardens from lowlands to the hills. While wintering in Sri Lanka, the Black-naped Oriole occurs mainly as solitary birds and feeds on berries and insects in the canopy. It breeds in SE Russia, northeastern China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and wintering mainly in northeastern part of the India and peninsular regions as well as Bangladesh.