Showing posts with label Sandpipers and allies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandpipers and allies. Show all posts

Friday, January 5, 2024

පෙඳ කලු මහාවටුවා/කලු පෙඳ ගොහොදුවිත්තා (Limosa limosa)

 වියලි කලාපීය වෙරලාසන්න වගුරු බිම්, මඩ වගුරු, කලපු, කුඹුරු, වැව් ආදියේ මෙන්ම ඇතැම්විට රට අභ්‍යන්තරයට වන්නට පිහිටි එවැනි ස්ථාන වලටද පැමිණෙන සුලභ සංචාරක පක්ෂියෙකි. තනිව හෝ කුඩා හෝ විශාල රංචු ලෙසින් පණුවන්, කෘමීන් සහ ක්‍රස්ටේෂියාවන් ගොදුරු කර ගනී. යුරෝපයේ සහ බටහිර ආසියානු ප්‍රදේශ වල අභිජනනය කරයි.

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Saturday, March 11, 2023

පොදු රත්පා සිලිබිල්ලා/පා රතු සිලිවටුවා (Tringa totanus)

සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂියෙකු වන පොදු රත්පා සිලිබිල්ලා වියලි කලාපයේ වෙරළබඩ ප්‍රදේශ වල නොගැඹුරු මඩ වගුරු, ලේවායන්, කලපු ආදියේ සංචාරක පක්ෂීන් මෙරටට පැමිණෙන මාස වලදි සුලභව දැකගත හැක. තෙත් කලාපයේ එතරම් සුලභ නොවන අතර කළාතුරකින් රට අභ්‍යන්තරයෙන්ද වාර්තා වේ. කකුළුවන්, මොලුස්කාවන්, පණුවන් වැනි ජලජ සතුන් ගොදුරු කර ගන්නා මෙම පක්ෂියා තනිව හෝ කුඩා රංචු වශයෙන් හැසිරේ. ඇතැම්විට වෙනත් ජලජ පක්ෂීන් සමගද ආහාර සුලභ ස්ථාන වල එක්ව සිටිනු දැකිය හැක. පොදු රත්පා සිලිබිල්ලා මධ්‍යම ආසියානු ප්‍රදේශ වල අභිජනනය කරයි.

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Saturday, January 21, 2023

Common Snipe/Fantail snipe/අවන්පෙඳ කැස්වටුවා/පොදු කැස්වටුවා[Awanpenda Kaeswatuwa/Podu Keswatuwa] (Gallinago gallinago)

 Fairly rare but regular winter migrant to the low country marshlands, grassy tank edges, wet paddy fields and likes. It is mainly nocturnal and usually solitary snipe feeds on earth worms, and insect larvae in muddy grounds by probing deep into mud with its highly sensitive long bill. Common Snipe breeds in Europe, Asia and also in North America

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Ruff/ලොවිච්චි සිලිවටුවා/ලොවිච්චි හින්නා[Lowichchi /Siliwatuwa/Lowichchi Hinna] (Philomachus pugnax)

An uncommon winter migrant to marshlands, paddy fields, flooded meadows, lagoons and salt-pans, etc. mainly of the dry coastal areas. Rare in the wet zone coastal areas. Ruff occurs as single birds feeding alone with other waders or as several birds together. It feeds mainly on insects though sometimes eat grain such as paddy. It breeds in northern Europe and Asia

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Temminck's Stint/සිඟිති සිලිවටුවා/ටෙමින් හින්නා [Singithi Siliwatuwa/Temin Hinna] (Calidris temminckii)

Rather rare winter migrants to the shores of shallow creeks and muddy places with grass and low vegetation in the lowlands. Temminck's Stint usually found in small parties of 3 to 4  birds, sometimes with other Stints or with Little Ringed Plovers, Wood Sandpipers etc. It breeds in northern Europe and Asia.  

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

කොළ පා සිලිවටුවා/පොදු පලාපා සිලිබිල්ලා (Tringa nebularia)

 පහත රට වෙරළබඩ ප්‍රදේශ වලට පැමිණෙන සුලභ සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂියෙකි කොළ පා සිලිවටුවා නැතහොත් පොදු පලාපා සිලිබිල්ලා. වියලි කලාපයේ කලපු, වැව්, ලේවායන් සහ ගං මෝය අසල වඩාත් සුලභ ලෙසින් හමුවන අතර පහත රට තෙත් කලාපයේ ස්ථානීය වශයෙන් දුර්ලභව දැකිය හැක. බොහෝවිට තනි පක්ෂින් ලෙසින්ද, ඇතැම් විට විසිරුණු රංචු ලෙසින්ද  එවන් ස්ථාන වල ඉවුරට ආසන්නව හෝ ඇතැම් අවස්ථා වල තරමක් ගැඹුරු ජලයේ පවා බැස මඩේ සිටින කකුළුවන්, පණුවන්, කෘමීන් සහ බෙල්ලන් ආදිය ගොදුරු කරගන්නා  ආකාරය නිරීක්ෂණය කල හැක. මෙම පක්ෂියා යුරෝපයේ උතුරු කොටසේ මෙන්ම උතුරු සහ මධ්‍යම ආසියානු ප්‍රදේශ වල අභිජනනය කරයි.

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Thursday, March 24, 2022

දෑකැති සිලිවටුවා/කලිති හින්නා (Calidris ferruginea)


වියලි කලාපයේ කලපු, ලේවායන්, ගං මෝය සහ වෙරලට ආසන්න මඩ වගුරු සහ වගුරු බිම් වල ඉතාමත් සුලභ සංචාරක පක්ෂියෙකි. කලාතුරකින් තෙත් කලාපයේද එවන් පරිසරයන්හි හමුවේ. විශාල හෝ කුඩා රංචු වශයෙන්, ඇතැම්විට වෙනත් එවැනි වෙරලබඩ පරිසර පද්ධති වල හමුවන ජලජ පක්ෂීන්ද සමග විශේෂයෙන්ම බාදිය සමග ගසාගෙන නොයන පණුවන්, බෙල්ලන් වැනි විවිධ කුඩා ජීවින් කඩිසරව ගොදුරු කරගනිමින් හැසිරෙන ආකාරය නිරීක්ෂණය කල හැක.  නැගෙනහිර ආසියානු ආක්ටික් තුන්ද්‍රා බිම් වල අභිජනනය කරයි.

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Sunday, March 20, 2022

කැටපෙරලන්නා/රත් ගල්පෙරලියා (Arenaria interpres)

 වසරේ සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂීන් මෙරට තුල දැකිය හැකි මාසයන්හි වියලි කලාපයේ වෙරලබඩ මඩ වගුරු, කලපු සහ ගං මෝය ආදියෙහි, විශේෂයෙන් ගල්පර සහ බොරළු සහිත පරිසරයන්හි සුලභ සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂියෙකි. තෙත් කලාපයේද ඇතැම්විට කලාතුරකින් ගැලපෙන පරිසර පද්ධති වල නිරීක්ෂණය කර ඇත.  නිතර තනි පක්ෂීන් ලෙස ගොදුරු සොයන මුත් ඇතැම් විට කුඩා විසිරුණු රංචු ලෙසින්ද හමුවේ.  මුහුදු පාසි, කුඩා ගල් කැබැලි සහ සිප්පි කටු ආදිය හරවමින් ඒවා යට සැඟව සිටින කුඩා සතුන් අල්ලා කන හෙයින් ඉංග්‍රිසි භාෂාවෙන් Ruddy Turnstone යන නම මේ පක්ෂියාට යොදා ඇත. සිංහල නම්ද ඒ අනුසාරයෙන් නිර්මාණය කර තිබේ.  

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Friday, March 18, 2022

වන සිලිබිල්ලා/වන සිලිවටුවා (Tringa glareola)

 සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂීන් මෙරට තුල හමුවන මාස වල පහත රට වියලි කලාපයේ වෙරළ බඩ ප්‍රදේශ, කලපු, වගුරු බිම්, මඩ වගුරු වල මෙන්ම වැව් සහ කුඹුරු වලද සුලභව දැකිය හැකි සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂියෙකි. කලාතුරකින් කඳුකරයේ සහ පහත රට තෙත් කලාපයෙන්ද වාර්තා වී ඇත. වෙනත් බොහෝ සංක්‍රමණික ජලාශ්‍රිත පක්ෂීන් මෙන් නොව මෙම පක්ෂියා මිරිදිය ජල පද්ධති වලට වැඩි කැමැත්තක් දක්වයි. බොහෝවිට තනිව හැසිරෙන මුත් ඇතැම් විට ලොකු කුඩා රංචු වශයෙන්ද හමුවන වන සිලිබිල්ලා ජලයේ වෙසෙන කුරුමිණියන්, මකුණන් සහ කීටයන් වැනි  කුඩා ජලජ කෘමීන් ආහාරයට ගනී.

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Thursday, March 10, 2022

දෑතුඩු වටුවා/විඹුරැලි කලිත්තා(Numenius phaeopus)

පහත රට ප්‍රදේශ වලට, විශේෂයෙන්ම වියලි කලාපයේ වෙරළ බඩ ප්‍රදේශ වල වගුරු බිම්, මඩ වගුරු, සහ කලපු වලට වසරේ සැප්තැම්බර්-ඔක්තෝබර් මාස වලදී පැමිණ ඊලග වසරේ අප්‍රියෙල් දක්වා සිටින එතරම් සුලභ නොවන සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂියෙකි. කකුළුවන්, බෙල්ලන්, සහ පණුවන් ගොදුරු කරගන්නා මෙම පක්ෂියා තනිව හෝ ඇතැම්විට 4 ක් හෝ 5 ක් පමණ වන කුඩා රංචු ලෙසින් හමුවේ. මෙම පක්ෂියා උතුරු යුරෝපයේ සහ බටහිර ආසියානු ප්‍රදේශ වල අභිජනනය කරයි. 

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Thursday, March 3, 2022

වගුරු සිලිබිල්ලා/වගුරු සිලිවටුවා (Tringa stagnatilis)

 පහත රට ජලජ පරිසර පද්ධති වල, විශේෂයෙන් පහත රට වියලි කලාපයේ වෙරලබඩ කලපු, ගං මෝය, කඩොලාන, ලුණු ලේවායන් සහ ඇතැම්විට රට ඇතුලට වන්නට පිහිටි වගුරු බිම්, විශාල වැව් සහ වතුරෙන් යටවූ කුඹුරු ආදියේද හමුවන සංකරමණික පක්ෂියෙකි වගුරු සිලිබිල්ලා. කකුළුවන්, ඉස්සන්, පණුවන් වැනි කුඩා ජලජ සතුන් ආහාරයට ගන්නා වගුරු සිලිබිල්ලන් තනිව හෝ ලොකු කුඩා රංචු ලෙසින් ගොදුරු සොයන ආකාරය නිරීක්ෂණය කල හැක. වගුරු සිලිබිල්ලා වේගයෙන් පියාසර කරන, එසේම හොඳින් පීනීමටත් හැකි පක්ෂියෙකි.

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Saturday, February 26, 2022

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)

 Rather uncommon winter migrant to the grassy and wooded areas of freshwater pools, streams, rivers and brackish channels in tidal marshes throughout the island. But not normally occurs on salt water. While its stay in Sri Lanka Green Sandpiper usually lives as solitary birds. It breeds in Europe and Central Asia


Sunday, October 17, 2021

පොදු සිලිත්තා (Actitis hypoleucos)

 වසරේ අගෝස්තු සහ සැප්තැම්බර් මාස වල මෙරටට පැමිණ ඊලග වසරේ අප්‍රියෙල්- මැයි පමණ දක්වා මෙරට තුල ගත කරන සුලභ සංචාරක පක්ෂියෙකි පොදු සිලිත්තා. එම කාලය තුල මුළු දිවයින පුරාම පාහේ ජලජ පරිසර ආශ්‍රීතව දැකිය හැක. නිබඳව තනි පක්ෂීන් ලෙස හමුවුවත් ඇතැම් විට කුඩා විසිරුණු රංචු ලෙසින්ද දැකිය හැක. මොලුස්කාවන්, කෘමීන් සහ ක්‍රස්ටේෂියාවන් අහාරයට ගන්නා පොදු සිලිත්තා වරින් වර සිය පෙඳය ඉහල පහල කරන හැසිරීමක් දක්වයි.

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Sunday, December 24, 2017

Pin-tailed Snipe/උල්පෙඳ කැස්වටුවා[Ulpendha Keswatuwa] (Gallinago stenura)

Common winter migrant to the weedy swamps, wet grasslands and paddy fields throughout the island though much common in the lowlands. While its stay in Sri Lanka Pin-tailed snipe is mainly a nocturnal bird. But in undisturbed areas it would often feed until late hours of the morning and again in the afternoon. It feeds mainly on insects and their larvae as well as earthworms, using its long beak, the tip of which is highly sensitive and also can be open widely while the rest of it remains closed. Pin-tailed snipe breeds in eastern Asia.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Annotated checklist of vagrant Waders ( Family: Scolopacidae and Family: Charadriidae) of Sri Lnaka

      Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrant waders (Also known as "Shorebirds") belong to Scolopacidae(Sandpipers and allies) and Charadriidae (Plovers) families in Sri Lanka. 

1) Sociable Lapwing [Sociable Plover] (Vanellus gregarius)
W.A. Cave reported it first time in Sri Lanka in 1907. According to him 7 Black-sided or Sociable lapwings (Chettusia gregaria) observed at racecourse during December 1906 and January 1907. “They were very tame and allowed riders to come quite close before taking wing.” (Cave, W.A. 1907). Since then he had only seen a solitary example at the same place in January of 1911(Cave, W.A. 1912). In 1931 Wait noted that few birds used to turn up nearly every year on the racecourse at Colombo (Wait 1931:338). A flock of 12 birds were reported from Wilpattu National Park during September 1972 (Phillips 1978:25 & Hoffmann, T. W. 1974)

      2)Wood Snipe (Gallinago nemoricola)
Wood Snipe was first recorded as having occurs in Sri Lanka from Nuwaraeliya by Hugh Nevill, of the Ceylon civil service, merely saying that, it is found in the “the country  round Nuwara Eliya” (Legge 880:1065). Nevill found it among low bushes at the edge of swampy Patana lands (Nevill, H. 1867-1870). Then after there were several sightings and some birds shot around Nuwaraeliya Lake and Horton plains were doubtfully identified as Wood snipe (Phillips 1978:31). Such as J. Ryan in 1907 reported a sighting of Solitary or Wood snipe only once at Thalawakele (Ryan, J. 1907). However there is a reference of shooting a Wood Snipe in a flooded uncultivated paddy field near Kekirawa on the 12th December 1943 by G.H. Villers.(Villiers, G. H. 1944) He further stated that description and measurements of the specimen are exactly match with that given in Waits ‘Ceylon birds’. However Waits’s appeal of sending head and wing to the Museum if any snipe shooter come across a large snipe (Wait 1931: 368),  was never answered and Phillips repeated it in 1950 again (Phillips, W. W. A.  1950). There is a recent sight record of a single bird at Ambewela in December 1982 (Hoffmann, T. W. 1983).

      3) Swinhoe's Snipe (Gallinago megala)
A Snipe shot in 7th April 1934* at Maduramadu tank near the road from Madawachchiya to Mannar by R.H. Spencer Schrader of Negombo and sent to W.E. Wait was identified as a Swinhoe's Snipe and it is the first instance of its occurrence in Sri Lanka though there were some time to time references by snipe-shooters of a snipe larger than Pintail (Wait, W. E., 1936 & Anon. 1946). Second occurrence of it is two birds shot in a paddy field at Bandaragama by E.C. Fernando Jnr. on the 28th December 1966 (Phillips 1978:32). Another bird was shot by K.F. Dallas in the fields by Periyakulam north of Trincomalee at the beginning of April 1970 (Cameron, R.Mcl.L. 1970.)

Exact date of shooting is rather confusing. It was 8th April 1934 according to the Wait (Wait, W. E 1936) but Phillips give it as 12th April 1934 (Phillips W. W. A. 1940) and again April 1939 and April 1954 (Phillips, W. W. A., 1950 & Phillips, W. W. A., 1978 respectively) While R.H. Spencer Schrader himself given it as 7th April 1934 (Anon. 1946)

      4) Great Snipe (Gallinago media)
On the evening of 15th December 1940 E.C. Fernando secured a bird first time from Ceylon a few miles inland from Kalutara south. He shot two but was only able to collect one which was flushed from long grasses (Phillips, W. W. A. 1941). Second specimen of it is also from E.C. Fernando who collected a single bird at a paddy field near Nadimala - Dehiwela on 1st January 1950. (Norris, C. E. 1950 & Phillips, W. W. A. 1950). Third record is also from west coast on January 1953 (Ebbels, D.L., 1961). Mawell A. Joshep accompanied by Paul M. Modder shot a female bird about a mile from Kurunegala town on 1st April 1961. T.S.U de Zilva confirmed the identification and latter also by C.E. Norris. (Modder E., 1961 & Ebbels, D.L., 1961). In recent time a possible Great snipe was seen at Sansthapitiya tank in March 1995 (Hoffmann, T. W. 1996)

      5) Asian Dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus)
It was first time recorded in Sri Lanka in July 1982 by a foreign ornithologist C. Brewster at Hambantota (Hoffmann, T. W., 1983). The second record of it is from Bundala National Park in November 2002 (Siriwardana, U., 2003). 

      6) Red-necked Stint [Rufous-necked Stint/Eastern Little Stint] (Calidris ruficollis)
It is first time recorded in Sri Lanka by Rex I. De Silva in 11th February 1996 at Bundala salt pans (De Silva, R.I. 2001). Single bird in breeding plumage was observed among large flock of Little stints. Second sight record is from Kirinda Kalapuwa in December 1997 by Deepal Warakagoda (Hoffmann, T. W. 1999). Later on sights records are – Single bird from Bundala National Park on February 1999 (Warakagoda, D. 2000), single bird from Yala Block 1 on February 2002 (Siriwardana, U. 2003) and two From Palatupana on September 2004 (Siriwardana, U. 2005). Another sighting at Bundala salterns by Deepal Warakagoda and John Sutherby posted in CBC web site on 10th February 2013 (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php)

      7) Sharp-tailed Sandpiper [Asian Pectoral Sandpiper] (Calidris acuminata)
W.W.A Phillips procured a specimen of adult female on 18th September 1955*  at Embililala lagoon of Bundala National Park. While collecting it was feeding busily with large flocks of Curlew-Sandpipers, Little Stints and lesser number of Wood-Sandpipers, Marsh -Sandpipers and several other waders in the shallow water. It was the first occasion of Sharp-tailed Sandpiper recorded in Sri Lanka (Phillips, W. W. A. 1956). It was again reported during December 1998 migratory season from Karagan Lewaya by Jagath Gunawardana and from Kirinda by Deepal WarakagodaChandra Jayawardana also reported it from Bundala in the same season (Warakagoda, D. 1999 & Maduranga, H. G. S. 2002). Sujan Maduranga Henkanaththegedara reported another sight record of a juvenile bird on 2nd March 2001 from Maha lewaya - Hambantota (Maduranga, H. G. S. 2002). It was feeding in shallow waters of one of the two canals which bring water to the Maha lewaya from the sea with a group of waders that consisted of Marsh sandpipersCommon Redshanks, Black-winged Stilts and some Little stintsIn November 2005 one bird was observed at Wirawila (Sirivardana U. & Warakagoda  D. , 2006). A sighting at the Vankalei Sanctuary is given in the Report of CBC for 2008-2011(Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011), probably the same sighting posted in CBC web site on 28th December 2011 ([http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php]) as reported by Kithsiri Gunawardena, Deepal Warakagoda and Uditha Hettige.

 1953 - Probably a wrong year is given in Phillip's own later on reference of the same sighting. see Phillips, W. W. A. 1978:33

      8) Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus)
1978 February – Dr. Ben king, an American ornithologist reported a single bird from Bundala National Park for the first time in Sri Lanka (Hoffmann, T. W. 1979). Another bird was observed in the November of the same year at Bentota beach (Hoffmann, T. W. 1979). Kotagama and Ratnavira noted several sightings since 1978 (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 223)

      9) Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Tryngites subruficollis)
It was first time collected at Kalamatiya in March 1960 by Dr. T.S.U de Silva (Reported in Loris and JBNH) and another one was observed near Trincomalee in November 1974 by J.C. Sinclair an ornithologist from DurbanSouth Africa (Hoffmann, T. W. 1975 & Phillips, W. W. A. 1980). Single bird was observed at Embilikala kalapuwa in January 1985 (Hoffmann, T. W. 1986)

Unconfirmed vagrants:

Species for which there are only one or two sight records exist categorized here as unconfirmed vagrants. Problematic records without sufficient details are also included.


      10) Grey-headed Lapwing (Vanellus cinereus)
Kithsiri Gunawardena observed a Grey-headed Lapwing first time in Sri Lanka at Tirukkovil during the water bird census of 2003 (Warakagoda, D. & Siriwardana, U., 2004). Second record in the country according to the CBC is from Palatupana recorded during 2009 water bird census conducted in January/February (Siriwardana, U. and Senanayake T. 2010). However Kotagama & Ratnawira 2010 noted another sight record from Bundala referring Perera T. 2005.

      11) Long-billed Plover (Charadrius placidus)
The sight record from the Chilaw sandpits on 10th January 1993 by Rex I. de Silva and Lester Perera is the only recorded occurrence of this wader in Sri Lanka. (De Silva R.I & Perera l. 1993). However as per Wijesinghe 1991 it is a sight record of inadequate or otherwise problematic (Ranasinghe, D. B. 1997)

      12)Oriental Plover (Charadrius veredus)
First recorded by Deepal warakagoda in 24th January 1994 at Kirinda lewaya (Hoffmann, T. W. 1995) Second record in Sri Lanka is the single bird recorded with a photograph from Kalametiya by Pathmanath Samaraweera in 2006 (Siriwardana, U. 2007)

     13) Little Curlew (Numenius minutus)  
Single sight record by A.J. Vincent at Hambantota is the only record. (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 214). Probably the same sighting recorded in 12th March 1994 under ‘List of Rejections’ of CBC (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/List-of-Rejections.pdf)

     14) Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris)
Reported a single bird first time in Sri Lanka on 13th February 1985 at Koggala. Second sight record is from Ambalangoda-Hungama road, again a single bird on 15th April 1994. Both reports were categorized under ‘List of Rejections’ of CBC (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/List-of-Rejections.pdf). However Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010 mention about several sight records base on personal communication of Rex I. De Silva and the first sight record published in CBCN 1985, Feb: 13.

     15Spotted Greenshank [Nordmann’s greenshank/Armstrong’s Sandpiper] ( Tringa guttifer)
It was recorded first time in Sri Lanka from the tidal mudflats off the northern margin of Hevativu Island at the southern end of Puttalam lagoon on 23rd February 1991 by Rex. I. De Silva (De Silva, R.I. 1992).
However CBC decided to remove it from Sri Lanka list as having been accepted on misleading data (Warakagoda, D. 1999 & http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/Appendix-II.pdf)

      16) Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)
Only record is the observation made by a group of British and American ornithologists at Bundala in December 1979 of 20+ birds of both Solitary sandpiper and Wilson’s phalarope (Hoffmann, T. W. 1980).  Solitary sandpiper breeds in North America and considered as a rare stragglers in Europe. Occurring of them in our region was explained as the result of taking of wrong western route along the pacific in their southward winter migrations. However later on John and Judy banks came up with acceptable evident with field observations that those birds are not Solitary Sandpipers but Green Sandpipers which is very similar in the field and can be easily misidentified by an observer who is not familiar with Green Sandpipers but Solitary Sandpipers as with those American bird watchers (Banks, J. & Banks, J. 1981)

      17) Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
Sight record of A.J. Vincent at Yala in March 1993 is the only record so far of the occurrence of Spotted Sandpiper in Sri Lanka (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 219).

      18) White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)
Sight record at Thennadi Bay in October 1980 is the only record so far of the occurrence of White-rumped Sandpiper in Sri Lanka (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 222 Quoting CBCN 1980, Oct: 50).

      19) Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
Sight record of Alan wheeldon of an adult bird in non-breeding plumage at Weerawila in March 2002 is the first and only record of it in Sri Lanka (Siriwardana, U. 2003 & Kaluthota C.D. & Kotagama S.W. 2009)

      20) Wilson's Phalarope (Steganopus tricoor)
Only record is the observing of 20 + birds of both Solitary sandpiper and Wilson’s phalarope at Bundala by British and American ornithologists in December 1979 (Hoffmann, T. W. 1980). However later on John and Judy Banks suggested with acceptable evident that these birds might be swimming Marsh Sandpipers and it is hardly to be Wilson’s Phalaropes (Banks, J. & Banks, J. 1981). So it is most unlikely that American migrant birds which have never been observed anywhere in Asia would suddenly appearing in Sri Lanka just when a party of American bird watchers are here to identify them (Hoffmann, T. W. 1981)

      21) Red Phalarope [Grey Phalarope] (Phalaropus fulicarius)
Single sight record at Hambantota in November 1985 is the only record available of its occurrence in Sri Lanka (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 225 Quoting CBCN 1985, Oct: 50). This sight record of a single bird at Karagan lewaya on 16th November 1985 is listed under Appendix 2 of CBC country list (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/Appendix-II.pdf) since report lacks sufficient diagnostic detail or, where necessary, sufficient comparison with ‘confusion’ species or subspecies; and there is therefore doubt as to the identification of the birds concerned.

References:

Anon. 1946. Bird Notes. Loris. 4(2):330-333.
Banks, J. & Banks, J. 1981. Wilsons Phalarope or Marsh Sandpiper. Loris. 15(6):345-346.
Cameron, R.Mcl.L. 1970  Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club-1969/70. Loris. 12(1):62-63.
Cave, W.A. 1907 Rare Colombo birds. Spolia Zeylanica. 5(17):65
Cave, W.A. 1912 The birds of Colombo. Spolia Zeylanica. 8(30):94-115.
de Silva, R.I. 1992. First Record of Nordmann's Greenshank Tringa guttifer from Sri Lanka. Loris. 19(6):195-196.
de Silva, R.I. & Perera, L. 1993. The Long -Billed Plover Charadrius placidus - A first record from Sri lanka. Loris. 20(2):52-53.
de Silva, R.I. 2001. The Rufous - necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis) in Sri Lanka. Loris. 22(5):48.
Ebbels, D.L 1961 Notes from Ceylon Bird Club January-June 1961 Loris 9(2) 115-16
Hoffmann, T. W. 1974. Notes From The Ceylon Bird Club 1970-1973. Loris, 13(4), 211-214.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1975. Notes From The Ceylon Bird Club, 1974. Loris, 13(5), 275-276.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1978. Bird Club Notes (1977). Loris, 14(5), 289-290.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1979. Note from the Ceylon Bird club 1978. Loris, 15(1), 6-8.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1980. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1979. Loris, 15(3), 157-159.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1981. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1980. Loris, 15(5), "283-284,292".
Hoffmann, T. W. 1983. Notes from the Ceylon Birds Club. Loris, 16(3), 132-134.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1986. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1985. Loris, 17(3), 99-101.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1995. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1994. Loris, 20(5), 226-227.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1996. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1995. Loris, 21(1), 16-18.
Hoffmann, T. W. 1999. Ceylon Bird Club Notes, 1997. Loris, 22(1), 57-58.
Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
Legge V., 1880. A History of the birds of Ceylon  1983 second edition.
Maduranga, H. G. S. 2002 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata (Horsfield) 1821; a sight record at Maha Lewaya, Hambantota District Sri lanka Naturalist 5(1): 08-10
Modder E. 1961 The Great Snipe Loris 9(2) 135-36
Nevill, H. 1867-1870. Description of two birds new to the recorded fauna of Ceylon. J. Roy. Asiatic Soc. (Cey. Br.), 4(14), 138-140.
Norris, C. E. 1950. Migrants, 1949-1950. Loris, 5(4), 171.
Perera T. 2005 Are those birds "Grey Headed Lapwings" ? Malkoha 27(1):3.
Phillips, W. W. A. 1940. The Occurrence of Swinhoe's snipe (Capilla Megala) in Ceylon Loris 2(2) 124
Phillips, W. W. A. 1941. Ornithological observations part 2 Loris 2(4) 234-237
Phillips, W. W. A., 1950. The Mystery Snipe. Loris, 5(4), 174-175
Phillips, W. W. A. 1956 The Siberian pectoral sandpiper Erolia acuminata - A new addition to the avifauna of Ceylon Spolia Zeylanica 28(1)
Phillips W.W.A., 1978. Annotated checklist of the Birds of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1978 revised edition.
Phillips, W. W. A. 1980. The Avifauna of Sri Lanka. Spolia Zeylanica, 35, 155-202.
Ranasinghe, D. B. 1997. Gaps on Field data for Sri Lankan Birds. Loris, 21(4), 170-172.
Ryan, J. 1907. The birds of Dimbulla. Spolia Zeylanica, 5(17), 13-16.
Siriwardana, U. 2003. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2002. Loris, 23(3&4), 36-39.
Siriwardana, U. 2005. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2004. Loris, 24(1&2), 33-35
Siriwardana, U. 2007  Report of the Ceylon Bird Club 2006 Loris, 24(5 & 6), 50-56
Siriwardana, U. and Senanayake T. 2010 Sri Lanka Waterbird census 2009 and 2010 Loris, 25(5), 34-36
Villiers, G. H. 1944 Capella nemoricola. Loris, 3(4), 137.
Wait W.E., 1931. Manual of the Birds of Ceylon. 2nd edition. Colombo Museum.
Wait, W. E., 1936 Occurrence of Capella Megala Swinhoe in Ceylon Spolia zeylanica 19 337-338
Warakagoda, D. 1999. Ceylon Bird Club Notes,1998. Loris, 22(2), 33-34.
Warakagoda, D. 2000. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 1999. Loris, 22(4), 23-25.
Warakagoda, D. & Siriwardana, U., 2004. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2003 Loris, 23(5&6), 37-41
Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2008-2011, Loris 26 (1&2)

Monday, December 23, 2013

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

Very common winter migrant inhabiting saltarns, estuaries, lagoons, mud-flats and marshes of dry zone coastal areas and occasionally in wet zone. It occurs as large to small flocks, sometime associating with other waders and feeds busily on numerous small organisms, worms, molluscs etc. exposed in mud-flats when tide is running out.  It breeds in Tundra in arctic eastern Asia.

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

Little Stint (Calidris minuta)


Little stint is a very common winter visitor to the coastal areas, lagoons, mud-flats, tank edges and salt pans mainly of the dry zone. Rare in wet zone. It lives in smaller to large flocks. When feeding at the water edges it runs actively on the mud, bill pointing downward and picking small aquatic animals time to time.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)


A rare winter migrant to the northern dry coastal areas such as lagoons, mudflats, estuaries etc. Occasionally some birds can be seen in southern coastal areas as well. In its non-breeding plumage Bar-tailed Godwit is very similar to the Black-tailed Godwit but can be distinguished from it by black and white barred tail (Tail is complete black of Black-tailed Godwit ) and more up-turned bill. It feeds wading in shallow water on worms, crabs, and other small aquatic animals, mostly as solitary individuals or as small flocks.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)


A common winter migrant to the low country coastal areas. Commonest in the dry zone lagoons  tanks, salterns and estuaries. Rare and local in the wet lowlands. It is mostly a solitary bird though sometime scattered flocks are not unusual in water edges or sometime in deeper water probing the mud and picking up small aquatic animals such as crabs, worms, insects and mollusks. 

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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis)


Common winter migrant to the lowlands. Mostly to the dry zone coastal areas such as lagoons, estuaries, mangroves, salt-pans, and sometime inland marshes, large tanks and flooded paddy fields. When feeding it keeps singly or in small or large flocks. Marsh Sandpiper feeds on small aquatic animals such as crabs, prawns, worms etc. It has a very fast flight and also can swim well. 

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