About Birds of Sri Lanka

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කුරුල්ලෝ — a free field guide to the birds of Sri Lanka.

What this site is

Sri Lanka is one of the richest birding destinations in South Asia, with well over 400 recorded species and a remarkable number found nowhere else on earth. Birds of Sri Lanka is a free, ad-supported field guide built to make that diversity easy to explore — whether you are identifying a bird in your garden or planning a trip to Sinharaja or Bundala.

Every species page brings together photographs, the English, Sinhala and scientific names, identification notes, habitat and diet information, IUCN conservation status, and — where we have them — recordings of the bird's calls and songs.

How to use it

The field guide lists every species with photo cards, and can be filtered to show only endemic or only rare birds. If you already know what you are looking for, search matches English, Sinhala and scientific names as you type.

The districts page maps all 25 districts of Sri Lanka — tap one to get a checklist of the birds recorded there, which is a good way to narrow down an identification by where you are.

Endemic and rare species

Species found only in Sri Lanka are marked Endemic, and scarce or infrequently recorded species are marked Rare. Each profile also carries its IUCN Red List category — from Least Concern through to Critically Endangered — so you can see at a glance which birds are under pressure.

Where the data comes from

Species records, photographs and audio are served from our own birds database, compiled and maintained for this site and its companion Android app. Conservation categories follow the IUCN Red List. District boundaries on the map come from geoBoundaries and are derived from OpenStreetMap data.

Accuracy and corrections

We work to keep names, status and identification notes accurate, but taxonomy changes and mistakes happen. This site is a reference for education and general interest — it is not a substitute for a peer-reviewed ornithological source. If you spot an error in a species page, or you are a photographer who would like a credit or an image removed, please get in touch and we will correct it promptly.

Contact

Email [email protected] with corrections, questions or photo contributions.