Indian Golden Oriole (Oriolus kundoo)

A rare winter migrant to the lowlands and lower hill wooded areas, occurring either singly or in small flocks. It feeds on fruits—particularly figs and berries—as well as insects, especially caterpillars. Indian Golden Oriole breeds in the hills of Baluchistan, northern and eastern Afghanistan, Nepal, and parts of India, including the Himalayan region.

Eastern Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica)

An uncommon winter migrant found mainly in the open-country habitats of the southern dry foothills, and rare in other parts of the country. It occurs as single individuals, small flocks, or occasionally in larger gatherings, often in association with other swallow species. It feeds on small flying insects, which it captures in flight.
 

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.

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.

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. 

Mongolian Short-toed Lark (Calandrella dukhunensis)

A rare vagrant to the open, dry grassy and weedy habitats of the low country. During its stay in Sri Lanka, it occurs either as solitary individuals or in small flocks. It feeds mainly on small invertebrates such as insects, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and spiders, as well as on plant material including seeds, buds, grasses, and occasionally fruits and flowers. It forages on the ground, often sitting still for long periods or running about, sometimes digging into the soil with its bill. The Mongolian Short-toed Lark breeds on the steppes of eastern Mongolia and adjoining regions of China and Russia.

Green Warbler (Phylloscopus nitidus)

A common winter migrant to forests and wooded gardens throughout the island. During its stay in the island it occurs as a solitary, territorial bird, feeding on insects among the foliage—usually in the tree canopy and only rarely descending into the undergrowth—while constantly uttering its characteristic thirririp call. Green Warbler breeds in Caucasus mountains to the Afghanistan. 

Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis)

A rare but regular passage migrant, and occasionally a winter visitor, occurring in open country mainly in the dry lowlands. It breeds in eastern Asia and winters in eastern Africa. The Amur Falcon typically hovers or flies just above treetops, capturing insects on the wing and often consuming them while in flight. It is a gregarious species, frequently seen in flocks during migration, sometimes mixed with other species. It commonly perches on power lines, fences, bushes, and similar structures.

Indian Cuckoo/කෝන කොහා/ඉන්දු කෝකිලයා [Kona Koha/Indu Kokilaya] (Cuculus micropterus)

An uncommon breeding resident of forests and well-wooded areas in the dry lowlands, supplemented by migrant populations in the lowlands and mid-hills. It is mostly lives as solitary birds and typically inhabits the tops of tall trees. The species is brood-parasitic, its probable hosts being orioles, flycatchers, and drongos. Its breeding season likely extends from January to May.

මාතුඩු ගස්රැවියා/මහතුඩු හම්බු කුරුල්ලා (Phylloscopus magnirostris)

 පහත රට ප්‍රදේශ වල සිට ඉහල කඳුකරය දක්වා තෙත් සහ වියලි කලාපීය වනාන්තර සහ හොඳින් ගහ කොළ සහිත ගෙවතු වල සුලභව හමුවන සංචාරක පක්ෂියෙකි. තනි තනි පක්ෂීන් වශයෙන් හෝ එකම ප්‍රදේශයක විසිරුණු සමූහයක් ලෙසට වනාන්තර උඩු වියනේ ආහාර සොයමින් හැසිරෙන මෙම පක්ෂියා හිමාලය ප්‍රදේශයේ අභිජනනය කරයි.

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මහ වැලි ඔලෙය්යා/රජ වැලි ඔලෙවියා (Charadrius leschenaultii)

 මුහුදු වෙරළ, කලපු, ගංගා මෝය වල ඉවුරු සහ වෙරළාශ්‍රිත මඩ වගුරු ආදියෙහි තරමක් දුර්ලභ ලෙස හමුවන සංචාරක පක්ෂියෙකි. ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් වියලි කලාපයෙහි එවන් පරිසර පද්ධති වල හමුවේ. තනි තනි පක්ෂීන් වශයෙන් හෝ කුඩා රංචු ලෙසින් කුඩා භෞමික කෘමීන්, කකුළුවන්, ඉස්සන් වැනි ක්‍රස්ටේෂීයන් පවුලේ සතුන් සහ පණුවන් ගොදුරු කරගනිමින් වෙසේ. ඈත පෙරදිග ආසියානු ප්‍රදේශවල සහ ජපානයේ අභිජනනය කරයි.

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වැලි සිලිවටුවා/වැලි හින්නා (Calidris alba)

ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් උතුරු, වයඹ සහ ගිණිකොණදිග වෙරළ තීරයන්හි එතරම් සුලභ නොවන ලෙස හමුවන සංචාරක පක්ෂියෙකි. කුඩා හෝ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රමාණයේ රංචු ලෙසින් වෙරළේ මුහුදු රල වෙරළ සමග හැපී ආපසු යනවිට ඒ සමග වේගයෙන් ඇවිදිමින් වෙරළට ගොඩගසන කුඩා අපෘෂ්ඨවංශී සතුන් ගොදුරු කරගනිමින් වාසය කරයි. වැලි සිලිවටුවා උතුරු අර්ධගෝලයේ ඈත තුන්ද්‍රා බිම් වල අභිජනනය කරයි.

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Chinese Pond-Heron (Ardeola bacchus)

Very rare vagrant bird with few sight records in Sri Lanka. It breeds in Assam and Burma to Eastern China and Manchuria and in the Andaman islands. Non-breeding and immature Chinese Pond-Herons are indistinguishable from the common resident Indian Pond-Herons. However, during the breeding season, the Chinese Pond-Heron's distinctive maroon-chestnut head and neck make identification easier. As a result, all recorded sightings of this species in Sri Lanka have occurred at the end of the migratory season. 

Chinese Pond Heron was first time recorded in Sri Lanka by Dieter Zingel (Germany) on 30^th April 1995 at Deberawewa (Hoffmann, T. W., 1996). Later on sight record(s) available by Rex. I. de Silva from Negambo Lagoon (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2017: 258)

There is also a observation of two birds with photographic evidences on 16th May 2020 by Thishan Jeevaka Perera at Halmillagolawa Wewa, Saliya Wewa, Puttalam, according to the Ceylon Bird Club notes (https://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php)

Recent observations reported in the eBird with photographic evidences

1) A single bird with breeding plumage by Alexander Cherinko at Flooded Fields near Rekawa Beach, Tangalle, Hambantota on 25th April 2021
2) A single bird with breeding plumage by Edmundas Greimas Sigiriya Water Garden, Dambulla, Matale on 8th April 2024
3) A single bird with breeding plumage by Tharaka Dhananjaya, Ashan Tharaka Piyasinghe and Osanda Dissanayake at Anavilundawa Bird sanctuary on 4th April 2025.

References:

• Hoffmann, T. W., 1996. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1995. Loris, 21(1), 16-18.
• Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo

Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris)

 Rather rare winter migrant to tidal mud-flats, lagoons and salt-pans of dry zone coastal areas, mainly in the northern part of the country.  It lives as solitary birds or as small flocks and feeds by probing. Great Knot breeds in north-eastern Siberia. 

Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

Rare winter migrant to mud and sand flats as well as the borders of lagoons and estuaries of the dry zone coastal areas. Even though very gregarious birds, both in feeding and flight, in Sri Lanka it is most likely to be found as solitary individuals or as flocks of 2-3 birds. Red Knot breeds in  far northern lands.