Common resident bird found in tanks, paddy fields and marshes of low country of the
island. It lives as flocks of a dozen or so birds and feeds on paddy, insects
and other small animals. It is partially
nocturnal and uttered its whistling call frequently in flight when heading to
its feeding grounds during dusk from the day retreat which is usually a small
islet in a tank or boughs of a dead tree standing in water. Breeding season is
from December to January and again from July to August. Nest often place in a
water side vegetation or holes in trees usually standing in water.
