Birdwatching in Sri Lanka

Birding contacts and birdwatching information



Local Birdingpal Contacts

Local Birdwatchers Using the Birdingpal resources you must agree to the following: If you contact a local Birdingpal and make arrangement to go birding, you should note it is common courtesy to make sure you show up for the appointment. If for any reason you are unable to do this, the least you must do is contacting the local Pal right away. Please note that most Birdingpals are serious birdwatchers. It is a privilege to contact them, and your message should reflect it. A local Pal does not get paid, but should he/she offer to take you out birding, using their own vehicle, it would be courteous to pay for the fuel. A lunch and/or a small gift would also be appropriate, something as simple as a souvenir of your country, or a pin from your local birding club.
		Initial	Last Name	Area	Available	Language
		N	Wikramanayake	Colombo, Western Province	Anytime	English
		I am an amateur birdwatcher who lives next to a wetland in Colombo. I will be happy to take you around this area and also drive out to other locations nearby. I can also put you in touch with local guides in the Sinharaja rainforest.
		S	Alvis	Colombo, Western Province	Weekend	English
		K	Wasantha	Colombo, Western Province	Anytime	English
		N	Vishvanath	Colombo, Western Province	Anytime	English
		R	Samarasinghe	Colombo, Western Province	Anytime	English
		S	Hettiarchchi	Kandy/Colombo, Western Province	Anytime	English
		Kandy - Hill Country we can find more endemic birds. Colombo - Low country. Lot of Bird species amoung the low land forests and mangroovs
		P	Mahawatta	Kalutara/Colombo, Western Province	Anytime	English
		I'm Prasanna from Sri Lanka and I'm a land surveyor in the Survey Department. My favorite hobby is birdwatching and I know many bird behaviors, pictures etc.
		T	Perera	Panadura, Western Province	Anytime	English
		I'm a semi-professional wildlife photographer based in Sri Lanka, and also an avid birder. Some of my photographs can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thilanka_sp/. Sri Lanka is a great place for birding. With 492 recorded bird species including 236 residents with 33 endemics packed in to a relatively small island, it's one of the best birding destinations in Asia. I have traveled to almost every birding hotspot in the island and I am always on the look out for new birds to see (and photograph) and new locations to travel.
		T	Abeywardana	Panadura, Western Province	Anytime	English
		26 years, Environmental Officer (10 years field experience), interested Flora (like Orchids), Birds and bio-diversity conservation, protecting wildlife, photography. Home town Panadura near (in front of) Bolgoda river, married from Colombo lives very close to national Zoological Garden, Dehiwala (150m), Attidiya sanctuary (able to capture endemic birds)also very close (less 1km). I'm able to guide all the National Parks in Sri Lanka.
Professional Guides If you contact a professional Birdingpal guide you must be prepared to pay a fee for guiding services.
		Initial	Last Name	Area	Available	Language
		C	Jayaweera	Colombo, Western Province	Anytime	English, Spanish
		Fifty year old Chaminda Jayaweera also known as Jaya has had extensive experience of more than twenty years as a tour guide. His specialty is birdwatching tours. He is also well versed in mammals, dragonflies and butterflies and an enthusiastic wildlife photographer too. He has undergone many training session with eminent Sri Lankan wildlife photographer Gehan de Silva Wijeratne. Jaya is a qualified bird watching tour guide who is licensed by the Ceylon Tourist Board. He has also followed the Certificate Course in Wildlife Conservation & Management conducted by the Open University of Sri Lanka, Diploma on Waterfalls in Sri Lanka conducted by Lanka Council on Waterfalls and is an active Life member of the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL). During his long career, Jaya has worked with Professors Sarath Kotagma (Dept of Environment and Science, University of Colombo), Jeremy Gray (ERM Dept, University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland) and M T Sivajothy (Dept of Animal and Plant Science, University of Sheffield, UK). Professor Caroline Harcourt of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge has commended Jaya highly as a birdwatching tour guide in Sri Lanka. Jaya also conducted photography tours in Sri Lanka for well known UK wildlife photographers David Hosking FRPS and Martin Withers FRPS. 05th Dec to 18th Dec 2010. Jayaweera was the best! Very polite, knowledgeable & helpful. We felt very safe with him & he looked after us very well. We would recommend him to everyone. He passion is wildlife & birds and he knows every single bird in Sri Lanka. He was great company & we`ve thoroughly enjoyed having him as our Driver Guide. Robert & Sarah Harvey-UK 19th Dec 2010 to 09th Jan 2011. Jayaweera was helpful, resourceful and knowledgeable. He is having very good knowledge of birds and wildlife. Stephen and Jane Cotton-UK Jan and Feb 2011. Thank you for guiding us for 2 weeks in Jan and Feb 2011. Your knowledge and expertise made all the difference to our holiday. We don't really think of ourselves as "birders" because we are interested in all aspects of natural history and culture, so your wide-ranging interests matched ours very well. You were always very patient with us, if we couldn't see something or recognise something we'd seen plenty of times before. You were enthusiastic without being obsessive. You also piloted us round Sri Lanka roads without incident and proved capable of achieving things in hotels, that the hotel staff seemed unable to do. No water in your room? Leave it to Jaya! Our thanks. Stephen and Jane Cotton-UK.
Birding Friendly Lodging
		Anjana Sandakelum	Eagles Nest Cabanas	Tangalle Sri Lanka	Anytime	English
		For the last three years we have obtained awards from booking.com for customer satisfaction, consistently being rated at 9.1 for each of the last three years. Likewise we have received awards for excellence from Trip Advisor for the last three years. Many of our customers after having completed their stay with us, then ask if they can extend their stay for further days. Some return at the end of their holidays. We keep our grounds in a way which encourages wild birds and animals to visit and the lagoon at the front of the property has many visiting birds. See us at Booking.com		We are within easy traveling distance of the wildlife parks at Yala, Bundala and Udawalawa. We are also a few miles away from the turtle watching sight of Rakava. Area: Yala, Bundala and Udawalawa Area Birds:	Please contact us if you wish to arrange a visit or require further information. - Nimmi Interests: Nature: birdwatching, twitching, photography, hiking, butterflies, fishing, sport fishing, boating, skiing, swimming, surfing, snowmobiling, sky diving Travel: train, bus, car, hitchhiking, biking, long walk, packpack, canoe, portage, dog sled, snow mobile Visit: tourist site, museum, restaurant, club, vineyard, outdoors, nature spot, beach, lake, ocean, architecture, shop, antique, swap Attend: concert, horse race, ballet, dance show, theatre, live music, sports event, auction, antique, convention, political rally, protest, competition Participate: night life, party, dance, club, bar, rock, country, classical, hiphop, rap, swing, wine, beer, liquor, social games, computer games, casino
Local Information
		Name			Description
		Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia			Sri Lanka
		Local weather			Yahoo
		Bird check list			Printable
		Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka			Club
		Birding Hotspots around the world			Sites