Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka)

Very rare vagrant* in open stony habitats, where it perches on stones, clods and the like, and flies low over the ground. It has a habit of often oscillating the tail up and down. It feeds on small ground insects. Pied Wheatear breeds in Central Palearctic and winters in East Africa to Middle East. 

*G.M. Henry in 16 November 1943 observed an exhausted female bird in its winter plumage in a Colombo garden probably after arriving presumably from India. He has confirmed his identification after comparing his notes and sketches he had taken during many minutes of his observations with specimens at the British Natural History Museum. (Henry G.M. 1998: 380) There is another sight record of Pied Wheatear on passage between Sri Lanka and Maldives islands (Repley S.D. 1982: 471). 

Single female bird reported by Ravi Dharshana with photographic evidence on 9th January of 2025 at Port City - Colombo is probably the third record of Pied Wheatear in Sri Lanka.

Blyth's Swift (Apus leuconyx)

 Very rare vagrant bird with few sight records in Sri Lanka. Blyth's Swift breeds in Himalayas from Murree Hills to Assam valley and in South Assam Hills and is a winter visitor to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. As it is with all other swifts, Blyth's Swift feeds entirely on flying insects.  

Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

 A rare vagrant inhabiting open areas like mud flat fringes or sand dunes with scattered bushes or grassy or reedy clumps for vantage points. It perches on low vegetation and often makes short flights to ground to catch insects. 

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Merops persicus)

 A vagrant bird first time observed in Sri Lanka at Madiwela paddy fields of Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte on 23rd of May 2024 by  Priyanath Kotalawela. It feeds mainly on flying insects like dragonflies, bees, wasps etc. in open areas near water including seashores.  Blue-cheeked Bee-eater breeds in North Africa to West Asia. 

Second Record - 2024/05/28 of May 24 by Sivalingam Nithushan from Mannar.

Annotated checklist of vagrant Cisticolas and allies (Family: Cisticolidae) of Sri Lanka

    Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post listed up to date published sight records of single *unconfirmed vagrant of the family Cisticolidae (Cisticolas and allies) in Sri Lanka.   

      1)Rufescent Prinia (Prinia rufescens)

Single sight record at Kotte in 1989 by Rex.I. de Silva is the only record (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010:283)

References:

Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.

*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.  

Indochinese Cuckooshrike (Annotated checklist of vagrant Cuckooshrikes (Family: Campephagidae) of Sri Lanka)

      Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post listed up to date published sight records of single *unconfirmed vagrant of the family Campephagidae (Cuckooshrikes  and Minivets) in Sri Lanka.   

     1) Indochinese Cuckooshrike (Coracina polioptera)

Single sight record at Sigiriya in February 1993 by A.J. Vincent is the only record. (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010:287).

References:
Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.

*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. 

Pied Fantail (Annotated checklist of vagrant Fantails (Family: Rhipiduridae) of Sri Lanka)

      Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post listed up to date published sight records of single *unconfirmed vagrant of the family Rhipiduridae (Fantails) in Sri Lanka.

  

      1)Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica)

Single sight record of A.J. Vincent at Yala National Park in April 1994 is the only record. (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 276).

References:

Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.

*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. 

Slender-billed Oriole (Annotated checklist of vagrant Orioles (Family: Oriolidae) of Sri Lanka)

      Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post listed up to date published sight records of the single *unconfirmed vagrant of the family Oriolidae (Orioles ) in Sri Lanka.

      1) Slender-billed Oriole (Oriolus tenuirostris)

Single sight record at Bundala available according to the Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 274 Quoting CBCN 2002, Dec: 250). A sight record of single bird on 31^st December 2003 at Bundala national park is listed in Appendix 2 (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/Appendix-II.pdf) of CBC under the criteria of the 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 bird concerned’. Neither 2002 nor 2003 annual reviews of CBC notes contain both sight records mentioned above (Siriwardana, U., 2003 & Warakagoda, D., 2004)

References:
Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
Siriwardana, U., 2003. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2002. Loris, 23(3&4), 36-39.
Warakagoda, D., 2004. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2003 Loris, 23(5&6), 36-41

*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. 

Chestnut-shouldered Petronia (Annotated checklist of vagrant Sparrows (Family: Passeridae) recorded in Sri Lanka)

Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Passeridae (Sparrows & allies) in Sri Lanka.

Chestnut-shouldered Petronia[Yellow-throated Sparrow] (Petronia xanthocollis xanthocollis)

Legge procured two specimens from a considerable flock in company with a number of Weaver birds, on some openly-wooded grass-land near the sea, close to Madampe while on a trip to Chilaw in October 1876. It is the only record hitherto of this species in Sri Lanka (Legge 1880: 783).

References:

Legge V., 1880. A History of the birds of Ceylon  1983 second edition.

Vagrant Thrushes (Family: Turdidae) recorded in Sri Lanka

     Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Turdidae (Thrushes ) in Sri Lanka.    

     1) Eyebrowed Thrush [Dark Thrush] (Turdus obscurus)

Graham Speight of UK reported a bird first time on 24^th February 1994 at Nuwaraeliya. The same bird was reported by Ole F. Jakobsen in Forktail 10 (February 1995) as having been seen on 5^th February 1994 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1995) A sight record of it again reported from Nuwaraeliya in February 2002 (Siriwardana, U., 2003). Another bird observed at Horton plains NP on December 2005 (Sirivardana U. & Warakagoda  D. , 2006). Subsequent sights records are--

• On 28 January 2014 Rohan Gunasekara reported a single bird with several Pied Ground Thrushes from the Victoria Park of Nuwaraeliya (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php)
• Moditha Kodikara Arachchi reported a single bird from the Victoria Park, Nuwara Eliya.(Posted in http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php on 1st  February 2015)

References:

Hoffmann, T. W., 1995. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1994. Loris, 20(5), 226-227.
Siriwardana, U., 2003. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2002. Loris, 23(3&4), 36-39.

Sirivardana U. & Warakagoda  D. , 2006. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2005 Loris 24(3& 4), 24 - 28

Annotated checklist of vagrant Shrikes (Family: Laniidae) recorded in Sri Lanka

     Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Laniidae (Shrikes) in Sri Lanka.

Great Grey Shrike [Northern Shrike/Southern Grey Shrike](Lanius excubitor meridionalis)

First sight record of it is from a scrub jungle on the outskirts of paddy cultivation near Kekirawa during December 1940 (Phillips W.W.A, 1978). Second record is from 6-7^th mile of Murunkan - Silavaturai Road in May 1974 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1975).

Several other sightings are - 

1) Single bird from Maho in January 1978 (Hoffmann, T. W.,1979), 

2) Single bird (Pied Shrike?) from Pannikar villu-Wilpattu in January 1983 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1984), 

3) Single bird at Hantana in January 1985 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1986), 

4) Two sighting in February 1986 - one at Buttuwa in Yala and other one at Horton plains (Hoffmann, T. W., 1987) 

5) Sighting of two birds at Ampitiya in January 1992 (Hoffmann, T. W.. 1993)

Reference:

Hoffmann, T. W., 1975. Notes From The Ceylon Bird Club, 1974. Loris, 13(5), 275-276.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1979. Note from the Ceylon Bird club 1978. Loris, 15(1), p6-8.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1984. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1983. Loris, 16(6), 299-301.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1986. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1985. Loris, 17(3), 99-101.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1987. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1986. Loris, 17(5), 209-210

Hoffmann, T. W., 1993. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club, 1992. Loris, 20(1), p12-14.

Phillips W.W.A, 1978. Annotated checklist of the Birds of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1978 revised edition

Small Buttonquail (Annotated checklist of vagrant Buttonquails(Family: Turnicidae) of Sri Lanka)

      Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post listed up to date published sight records of the single *unconfirmed vagrant of the family Turnicidae (Buttonquails) in Sri Lanka.

      1) Small Buttonquail (Turnix sylvaticus dussumier)

Single sight record from the Buttuwa wewa area of the Yala national park in February 1978 by Dr. Ben King, an American ornithologist, is the only record of the occurrence of this bird in Sri Lanka (Hoffmann, T. W. 1979 & Hoffmann, T. W., 1978)

References:
    

     Hoffmann, T. W., 1979. Note from the Ceylon Bird club 1978. Loris, 15(1), p 6-8.

     Hoffmann, T. W., 1978. New birds in Sri Lanka. Loris, 14(5), 308.

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

Lesser Flamingo (Annotated checklist of vagrant Flamingos (Family: Phoenicopteridae) of Sri Lanka)

      Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post listed up to date published sight records of a single *unconfirmed vagrant of the family Phoenicopteridae (Flamingos) in Sri Lanka.

* 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.

     1) Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)

Although definite evidence were lacking there were references to the possible presence of Lesser flamingos among Greater Flamingos in Hambantota area in September 1975 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1976). As per Kotagama & Ratnavira only record of Lesser Flamingo migrating to the Sri Lanka is the four birds recorded in a lagoon near Hambantota in 4^th January 1983 (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 170 Quoting CBCN 1984, Dec: 43). However CBC has listed this sight record under Appendix 2 of its country list (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/Appendix-II.pdf)) under the criteria of the 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 bird concerned’. However CBC web site posted a recent sight record on 19th February 2013 of two Lesser Flamingos from Jaffna on the Karainagar Causeway reported by Uditha Hettige, Lester Perera and Udaya Sirivardana (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php).

References:

Hoffmann, T. W., 1976. Notes from the Bird Club 1975. Loris, 14(1), 35-36.
Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G., 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.

Great Eared-nightjar (Vagrant Nightjars (Family: Caprimulgidae) recorded in Sri Lanka)

      Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Caprimulgidae (Nightjars) in Sri Lanka.

      Great Eared-nightjar (Eurostopodus macrotis)

First and only record of the occurrence of Great eared-nightjar in Sri Lanka is based on an exhausted and injured bird captured in a house near the coast at Kaluthara on 12^th March 2006 by W.C. Chamila soysa (Soysa W.C.C. et. al., 2007).  Identification was confirmed by Deepal Warakagoda and Uditha Hettige (Siriwardana, U., 2007). Bird subsequently died and specimen was deposited at the national museum.

References:

Siriwardana, U., 2007. Report of the Ceylon Bird Club 2006 Loris, 24(5 & 6), 50-56

Soysa W.C.C.,  Amarasinghe A.A.T and Karunarathna D.M.S.S. 2007.  A record of the Great Eared Nightjar Eurostopodus macrotis Vigors, 1831 (Aves: Caprimulgidae) from Sri Lanka Siyoth 2(1) 40-42

Asian Fairy Bluebird (Vagrants of the family Irenidae (Fairy Blubirds))

     Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Irenidae (Fairy Blubirds) in Sri Lanka.

Asian fairy bluebird

Layard obtained a specimen near Kandy and Kelaart procured the second specimen also from Kandy during 18^th century. Taxidermist of Colombo museum Hart reported a small flock in Rakvana in 1868 and again 3-4 birds in November 1877 at the same location and procured single specimen (Legge 1880:603). As per Phillips it has not been recorded since 1877 (Phillips 1978:70). In 1977 there is a sight record of a flock of 6 birds, drinking at a waterhole north of Trincomalee (Anon. 1977) and another rather doubtful sighting in February 1987 from Gilimale (Hoffmann, T. W., 1988)

References:

Anon. 1977. Fairy Blue Birds. Loris. 14(4):243

Hoffmann, T. W., 1988. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1987, A brief avifaunal survey. Loris, 18(1), 23-25

Legge V., 1880. A History of the birds of Ceylon  1983 second edition.
Phillips W.W.A., 1978. Annotated checklist of the Birds of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1978 revised edition.

Vagrant Chats and Old World Flycatchers (family:Muscicapidae) Recorded in Sri lanka

     1) Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)

      First record of occurrence of this bird in Sri Lanka is by Layard and second was by E.C. Fernando from Boralesgamuwa in November 1955. Third record is from Tharanga Herath with photographic evidence near old campsite of the Bundala National Park on 13th March 2014. (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php)

      2) Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin(Erythropygia galactotes familiaris)

A live specimen collected on 30^th September 1964 in a garden at Dehiwela and brought to Thelma Gunawardane by Osmar Ismail is the first and only record of the occurrence of this bird in Sri Lanka. The bird was in exhausted condition and was found dead on following morning. Specimen sent to J.D. Macdonald of the British natural history museum and identification was confirmed by himself. (Gunawardene, W. T. T. P., 1965)

      3) Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina)

W.W.A. Phillips mentioned two sight records of Isabelline Wheatear, one bird close to the 15th mile-post on the Mannar-Pooneryn road, north of the Uyatantundi Aru causeway by K.F. Dallas and a friend on the 4^th December 1970 [November 1970 according to the Hoffmann, T. W., 1974] and another one from dry mud-flats about a quarter of a mile from Vankalai on the 14^th March 1976 by John and Jude Banks (Phillips 1978: 83, & Hoffmann, T. W., 1977). A sight record of a single bird reported from Bundala on March 1990 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1991) Another sight record is given in the South-east coast (in two seasons) in the Report of the CBC for the 2008-2011 periods (Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011)

      4) Blue-throated Flycatcher (Cyornis rubeculoides)

Emerson Tennent first time included it in his list as a Sri lankan bird (Tennent E., 1861: 267). But Legge was in the opinion that Tennent may have been misidentified C. banyumas which is the flycatcher which represented in the south of the peninsula while C. rubeculoides is the North Indian bird. (Legge, W. V. 1870).  His idea is further supported by not having C. banyumas in Tennents list. Legge himself noted that he had met with this bird in various parts of the northern forests, but only from October to April of the year and Layard also obtained few specimens during its migration from the mainland ,first one being on 14^th October 1851(Legge 1880:547). Legge mention of seeing a specimen in Lord Tweeddale’s collection [which was probably collected by Chapman] by Holdsworth. Legge also had some specimens collected by himself. All of above specimens from Northern forests and Jaffna peninsula till W.W.A. Phillip observed a single bird on Mousakande estate Gammaduwa in the Mathale hills (3300ft a.s.l) (Phillips 1978:75)). In 1997/68 migrate season almost certainly a bird was seen in the northern forest area (Cameron, R.Mcl.L., 1968) and another sight record of a single bird reported on February 1981 at Sigiriya (Hoffmann, T. W., 1982)

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.

      5) Pied Wheatear(Oenanthe pleschanka pleschanka)

G.M. Henry in 16 November 1943 observed an exhausted female bird in its winter plumage in a Colombo garden probably after arriving presumably from India. He has confirmed his identification after comparing his notes and sketches he had taken during many minutes of his observations with specimens at the British Natural History Museum. (Henry G.M. 1998: 380) There is another sight record of Pied Wheatear on passage between Sri Lanka and Maldives islands (Repley S.D. 1982: 471)

      6)Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti)

Single sight record of the Desert wheatear available so far was reported by R.W. Lekkerkerk of Holland from Bundala National Park in February 1986 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1987).

      7) Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)            

Single sight record of it at Sinharaja noted by Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010: 306 Quoting CBCN 1978, July: 41). However it is not available in annual review of CBC notes for 1978 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1979) not in CBC country list (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/sri-lanka-bird-list.php) and two appendixes (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/Appendix-I.pdf, http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/Appendix-II.pdf), not even in List of rejections (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/List-of-Rejections.pdf)

      8) Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia)

Sight record made by Deepal Warakagoda and Steve Rooke at Yala block IV in March 1999 is the first record of its occurrences in Sri Lanka (Warakagoda, D. 2000). Second sight record of it from Thanamalwila on 3^rd January 2012 with photographic evident by Amila Salgado (Samaraweera P., 2013)

      9) Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva)

A.J. Vincet has recorded it from Horton plains in March 1994. It is the only record of this bird in Sri Lanka (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010:307)

      10) Slaty-blue Flycatcher (Ficedula tricolr)

Single sight record at Sigiriya in February 1993 by A.J. Vincent is the only record (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010:308)

      11) Black-and-rufous Flycatcher (Ficedula nigrorufa)

E.L. Mitford of the Ceylon civil service said to have procured a specimen of this species from Rathnapura district. Layard identified the species by a drawing of the bird made by Mitford who asserts that it was migratory, appearing in June. Legge doubted about it since no South-Indian migratory bird visiting Sri Lanka at that season and it can’t be also a local migration since it would not have been observed in other areas of the island (Legge 1880: 548)

      12) White-bellied Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis pallipes)

Sight record of A.J. Vincent at Kitulgala in April 1994 is the only evident for the occurrence of this species in Sri Lanka (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010:309)

      13) Hill Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis banyumas)

Single sight record of this flycatcher reported from Colombo in 1985 (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G. 2010:309 quoting CBCN 1985, Oct: 53a). However annual review of CBC notes for 1985 lack such a record (Hoffmann, T. W., 1986). It is not available in either CBC country list (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/sri-lanka-bird-list.php) or two Appendixes (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/Appendix-I.pdf, http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/Appendix-II.pdf), not even in List of rejections (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/List-of-Rejections.pdf)

14) Common Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

First time recorded by Sarath Seneviratna on March 2008 at Walahanduwa (Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011)

15) Whinchat Saxicola rubetra
The sight record of the single bird at t Udawalawe National Park on 8th of February 2015 by Chintaka De Silva, Janith Jayarathna and Clemens Steiof is the first record of it for Sri Lanka. (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php)

16) Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

Single bird observed at Udawalawe National Park on 8th February 2015 by Chintaka de Silva, Janith Jayaratne and Clemens Steiof is probably the second record of it for Sri Lanka.(http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php)

References: 

Cameron, R.Mcl.L. 1968. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club - 1967/68. Loris. 11(3):153-154.

Gunawardene, W. T. T. P., 1965. A new addition to the avifauna of Ceylon Erythopygia galactodes familiaris. Spolia Zeylanica, 30(2), 247-248.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1974. Notes From The Ceylon Bird Club 1970-1973. Loris, 13(4), 211-214.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1977. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1976. Loris, 14(3), 154-156.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1979. Note from the Ceylon Bird club 1978. Loris, 15(1), p6-8.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1982. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1981. Loris, 16(1), 38-40.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1986. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1985. Loris, 17(3), 99-101.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1987. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club 1986. Loris, 17(5), 209-210

Hoffmann, T. W., 1991. Notes from the Ceylon Bird Club, 1990. Loris, 19(3), 103-105.

Henry G.M., 1998 A Guide to the birds of Sri Lanka 1998. 3rd Edition.

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.

Phillips W.W.A., 1978 Annotated checklist of the Birds of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1978 revised edition.

Repley S.D., 1982 A synopsis of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka 1982
Samaraweera P., 2013. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club 2012, Loris 26(5&6), 33-35

Tennent E., 1861. Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon with narratives and anecdotes. (AES reprint 1999)

Warakagoda, D., 2000. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 1999. Loris, 22(4), 23-25.

Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2008-2011, Loris 26 (1&2)

Vagrant Finches and Buntings (Family: Fringillidae and Emberizidae) recorded in Sri Lanka

     Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of 3 vagrants of the family Emberizidae (Buntings) and single vagrant of the family Fringillidae (Finches)  in Sri Lanka. All four are here considered as 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.

     1) Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus)

Single sight record at Horton Plains National Park in February 2002 by Uditha Hettige (Siriwardana, U., 2003).

     2) Grey-necked Bunting (Emberiza buchanani)

C.D. Kaluthota, Dammithra Samarasinghe, Dilshan de Silva and Hasith de Silva observed and photographed a bird at Nirmalapura, Daluwa area of Kalpitiya peninsula on 16^th December 2008. It is the first and only known occurrence of Grey-necked Bunting in Sri Lanka (Kaluthota et. al., 2009)

     3) Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)

Single sight record from Udawalawe National Park in February 2005 by Deepal Warakagoda is the first record of its occurrence in Sri Lanka (Sirivardana U. & Warakagoda  D. , 2006). Second record of it is also given by Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U. in/near Yala Block 1 in the report of Ceylon Bird Club for 2008-2011 periods (Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011)

     4) Red-headed Bunting (Emberiza bruniceps)

Single sight record from Udawalawe National Park in February 2005 by Deepal Warakagoda is the only record of its occurrence in Sri Lanka (Sirivardana U. & Warakagoda  D. , 2006)

References:

Kaluthota, C.D., Samarasinghe, D., de Silva, D. & de Silva, H. 2009 First record of the Grey-necked Bunting Emberiza buchanani from Sri Lanka. Malkoha 30(1):4 

Siriwardana, U., 2003. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2002. Loris, 23(3&4), 36-39.

Sirivardana U. & Warakagoda  D. , 2006. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2005 Loris 24(3& 4), 24 - 28

Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2008-2011, Loris 26 (1&2)

Vagrant Rails and Crakes (Family: Rallidae) recorded in Sri Lanka

    Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Rallidae (Rails and Crakes) in Sri Lanka.     

     1) Water rail (Rallus aquaticus) R.Indicus

3 or 4 specimens procured by Lieut. Long of H.M. Ceylon rifle regiment at Jayelle (Sic = Jaela) paddy-fields and given to Layard is the only record of the occurrence of this rail in Sri Lanka (Legge V. 1880: 1018).

      2) Corn Crake (Crex crex)

Two immature females procured from Bambalapitiya, one by Dr. Thelma Gunawardane from a garden near the sea on 9^th October 1970 and another one in exhausted condition by David Bartholomeusz in the same area on 18^th September 1972 are the only records of Corn Crake in Sri Lanka. Both are believe to be just arrived birds from the Indian mainland (Phillips W.W.A., 1978:23). Another previous sight record exists in 1950 on board a ship close to Ceylon. (Hoffmann, T. W., 1974)

References:
Hoffmann, T. W., 1974. Notes From The Ceylon Bird Club 1970-1973. Loris, 13(4), 211-214.
Legge V., 1880. A History of the birds of Ceylon  1983 second edition.
Phillips W.W.A., 1978 Annotated checklist of the Birds of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1978 revised edition.

Vagrant Swifts (Family: Apodidae) recorded in Sri Lanka

Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of four unconfirmed vagrants* of the family Apodidae (Swifts ) in Sri Lanka.

*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.

1) White-throated Needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus)

Amila Salgado reported a sight record of White-throated Needletail first time in Sri Lanka in Pokunutenna (located in the North-Eastern boundary of the Udawalawe national park) on 22^nd February 2007. He had observed several of them in a flock of swifts which included little swifts, Indian swiftlets and Asian palm swifts. He has also mentioned about a sight record of this swift in 2003 at Sinharaja by a visiting bird watcher though which was not reported formerly (Salgado A., 2007). A sight record of two White-throated Needletails on 19^th February 2003 in Sinharaja is mentioned under ‘List of rejections (after 1990)’ of Ceylon bird club (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/List-of-Rejections.pdf). This is probably the same sight record Salgado was referring above.

     2) Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)

A swift probably of this species was photographed in South-east Sri Lanka (Rasmussen P.C. and Anderton J.C., 2012: 259-260)

     3) Fork-tailed Swift [Pacific Swift/Large White-rumped swift] (Apus pacificus)

First record in Sri Lanka by Deepal Warakagoda from Bundala national Park in 28^th November 1996 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1997 & Warakagoda, D., 1999).  A sight record by M.J. Pointon (UK) at Bentota in December 1997 is the second record of it in Sri Lanka (Hoffmann, T. W., 1999). However another record is given as the second report of it in/near Yala Block 1 by Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U. in the summery of bird club notes for 2008-2010 periods (Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011)

     4) Dark-rumped Swift (Apus acuticauda)

A sight record at Kandy in February 1993 by A.J. Vincent is the only record (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G., 2010: 257)

References:
Hoffmann, T. W., 1999. Ceylon Bird Club Notes, 1997. Loris, 22(1), 57-58.
Hoffmann, T. W., 1997. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1996. Loris, 21(3), 112-113.
Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
Rasmussen P.C. and Anderton J.C., 2012. Birds of South Asia - The Repley Guide Volume 2 Attributes and Status, second edition.
Salgado A., 2007. A sight record of White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus in Pokunutenna, Sri Lanka Siyoth 2(2): 43.
Warakagoda, D., 1999. Ceylon Bird Club Notes,1998. Loris, 22(2), 33-34.

Warakagoda D. & Sirivardana U., 2011. Report from the Ceylon Bird Club for 2008-2011, Loris 26 (1&2)

Vagrant Gulls and Terns (Family: Laridae) recorded in Sri Lanka

    Birds that appear outside their normal range are known as vagrants. This post summarizes up to date published sight records of vagrants of the family Laridae (Gulls and Terns) in Sri Lanka.

 Confirmed vagrants

     1) Sooty Gull (Larus hemprichii)

First time recorded in Sri Lanka from Mutwal by Deepal Warakagoda on 9^th January 1993 (Hoffmann, T. W., 1994) Several sight records since then (Kotagama S. & Ratnavira G., 2010: 227))

     2) White-cheeked Tern(Sterna repressa)

First sight record is from Galle Buck of Colombo in 1983 and second from Negombo lagoon in 1990 ( De Silva R.I, 1990:31, De Silva, R.I. 2001 and De Silva, R.I., 2011). Single specimen was captured at Bundala salterns situated within the Bundala National Park on 13^th December 2008 during the bird ringing session carried out by FOGSL and DWC. (Kaluthota, C.D., 2009). It is the third record (Kaluthota, C.D., 2009).

     3) Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)

Rex I. De Silva, Enoka Perera, Lester Perera and Kanishka Samarasinghe reported a Black Tern among flock of around 60 Whiskered Terns in 1^st November 1992 on the tidal mudflats in the Northern part of Negombo lagoon (De Silva, R.I. et. al., 1992). It is the first sight record of it in Sri Lanka and again Rex I. De Silva, LesterPerera, Trevor Roosmale-Cocq, Carl Fernando, Kathleen Wickremaratne, Sita and Amrita Hapuarachchi reported another sight record of three adult birds in winter plumage on 9^th January 1993 at Alangkuda (near Etalai on the Palavi-Kalpitiya road ). Again they were in a mixed flock of Whiskered and White-winged terns (De Silva, R.I. et. al., 1992). Another sight report available on 1995 April, a single bird with breeding plumage near Hambanthota (Hoffmann, T. W., 1996)

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.

     4) Black-naped Tern (Sterna sumatrana)

Single sight record available on 3^rd September 1994 by Laksiri Karunaratne off the coast of Colombo (Hoffmann, T. W., 1995 & Ilangakoon, A., 2001)          

     5) Slender-billed Gull (Larus genei)

Single sight-record made by a group of foreign ornithologist in September 1978 at Mannar is the first record of it in Sri Lanka. (Hoffmann, T. W., 1979). Arnaud B. van den Berg, Cecilia A. W. Bosman & Frank G. Rozendaal three Dutch ornithologists on 2^nd September 1978 around 9.00AM observed this single adult bird in summer plumage flying over the Mannar causeway (Van Den Berg, A. B., Bosman , C. A. W.  & Rozendaal  F.G., 1982)
Sudheera Bandara, Kiran Kumaranayagam and Udaya Sirivardena reported 43 Slender-billed gulls near the Sangupiddi Bridge, Pooneryn-Navatkuli road on the 8th and 9th February of 2015. Shalinka De Silva also reported some unusual gulls with photographs on 2nd February 2015 at the same location and  those were later on identified as of the same species. This is the seconds record of it in Sri Lanka (http://www.ceylonbirdclub.org/the_ceylon_bird_club_news.php)

References:

De Silva, R.I., 2011. Comments on Sri Lanka's Avifauna with a note on observing the seabird migration. Sethsamudra.(Downloaded from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxyZXhpZGVzaWx2YXxneDoxYmMxY2EyYjM1MDQ1NzZl)

De Silva, R.I., 2001. Seabird Studies off the West Coast 1981-2001. Loris. 22(5):41-42.

De Silva, R.I. et. al. 1992. The Black Tern Chlidonias niger in Sri Lanka. Loris. 19(6):204-205.

De Silva, R.I., 1990. Sea Bird of Sri Lanka. Ceylon journal of science. 21(1):28-33

Hoffmann, T. W., 1996. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1995. Loris, 21(1), 16-18.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1995. Ceylon Bird Club Notes 1994. Loris, 20(5), 226-227.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1994. Ceylon Bird Club Notes, 1993. Loris, 20(3), 107-109.

Hoffmann, T. W., 1979. Note from the Ceylon Bird club 1978. Loris, 15(1), 6-8.

Ilangakoon, A., 2001. Observing Seabirds off the West Coast of Sri Lanka. Loris, 22(5), 15-18.

Kaluthota, C.D., 2009 A Sand Martin and White-cheecked Tern : Two vagrant species captured at Bundala national park. Malkoha 30(1):3.(Downloaded from http://www.fogsl.net/publication/newsletters/malkoha-vol-30-1-1201.htm)

Kotagama, S., Ratnavira, G. 2010. An illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Colombo.

Van Den Berg, A. B., Bosman , C. A. W.  & Rozendaal  F.G., 1982. First record of a Slender billed Gull Larus genei in Sri Lanka. Ardea, 70, 82. (Downloaded from http://ardea.nou.nu/)