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List of endemic birds of Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka is home to 34 endemic bird species.[1] The total number of bird species recorded in the island is 492 of which 219 are breeding residents. BirdLife International recognize Sri Lanka as one of the world's Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs).[2] The number of endemic species has changed many times over the years.[3] This is largely due to "close taxonomic revisions". The number of endemic species has fluctuated from a minimum 20 to a maximum 47.[1] From 1977 the number settled at around 21. The figure was increased to 23 with the addition of two species in 1990. Many authorities have accepted this figure since then.[3] Wijesinghe published A checklist of the birds of Sri Lanka in 1994 which considered the addition of three more species, but this move did not receive widespread recognition because its rationale was not in keeping with rigorous taxonomic practice. Subsequent publications on the avifauna of Sri Lanka and the South Asia region have not listed these three as endemics. However, within some Sri Lankan circles considered the endemics proposed by Wijesinghe as acceptable. This may be due to an over-enthusiasm in increasing endemic numbers to create a better ornithological image and increase the demand for commercial birdwatching.[3]

In 2001, Warakagoda and Rasmussen described a new bird species, the Serendib scops-owl Otus thilohofmanni. This is the first new bird species discovered in Sri Lanka since 1868, when the Sri Lanka whistling-thrush (Myophonus blighi) was described.[4] There are some proposals for species level taxonomic revisions, and therefore endemic status in Sri Lanka.[1] The country prefix "Sri Lanka" in common names is normally restricted to endemic species. However Kotagama et al. (2006) disagree with Sibley and Monroe (1990) on the use of "Ceylon" in common species' names, suggesting instead that they should reflect the change of the official English name of the island from Ceylon to name Sri Lanka.[3] Sibley and Monroe's rationale was "Ceylon" is the geographical unit and "Sri Lanka" is the country which occupies the island. The geographical name is normally used for animal ranges, for example Madagascar is used rather than its nation, the Malagasy Republic."[3]

Change in number of endemics

Year Number of Species Reference Comment
1872 37 Holdsworth – Catalogue of Birds found in Ceylon
1880 47 Legge – A history of birds of Ceylon Included 17 species in the present list
1931 25 Wait – Manual of Birds of Ceylon Excluded the red faced-malkoha
1944 22 Whistler – Avifaunal survey of Ceylon
1946 20 Ripley – Comments to Endemic Birds of Ceylon grey hornbill, rufous babbler and red- faced malkoha were excluded
1952 21 Phillips – Revised Checklist of Birds of Ceylon red-faced malkoha and Ceylon grackle included
1975 20 Phillips – Revised Checklist of Birds of Ceylon black capped bulbul excluded
1977 21 Flemming – Notes on endemic birds of Ceylon rufous babbler included
1978 21 Phillips – Revised Checklist of Birds of Ceylon
1990 23+1 Sibley & Monroe – Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World Crimson fronted barbet suggested as Endemic
1994 23+1 Kotagama and Fernando – A field guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka Follow Sibley and Monroe
1994 23+3 Wijesinghe – A checklist of the birds of Sri Lanka 3 species are suggested as Endemic
1996 23+3 Inskip et al. – An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of the Oriental Region Follow Sibley and Monroe refers to Wijesinghe
1998 23 Grimmett et al. – Birds of the Indian Subcontinent
1999 23 Harrison – A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka
2013 26 Kotagama – A field guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka (revised) Crimson-fronted barbet, Pompadour green pigeon and Black-capped bulbul included

Source: Kotagama et al., 2013

Endemic species

Species which are validly published are considered as definitive endemic species.[1] Others are included with question marks.

Low Vulnerability Threatened
Least Concern
Near Threatened
Vulnerable
Endangered
Common name Binomial Family Habitat, Abundance, Distribution Status
Order Galliformes
Sri Lanka spurfowl

Galloperdix bicalcarata
(Forster, 1781) 		Phasianidae Humid forests. Common. All zones, except Northern region.[5]
[6]
Sri Lanka junglefowl

Gallus lafayetii
Lesson, 1831 		Phasianidae Forests, scrub jungles. Very common. All zones.[5]
[7]
Order Columbiformes
Sri Lanka wood pigeon

Columba torringtoni
(Blyth & Kelaart, 1853) 		Columbidae Forests, gardens. Restricted range. Hill country. Descends to low country wet zone during fruiting seasons.[8]
[9]
Sri Lanka green pigeon

Treron pompadora Columbidae
[10]
Order Psittaciformes
Sri Lanka hanging parrot

Loriculus beryllinus
(Forster, 1781) 		Psittacidae Forests, gardens. Common. All zones. More common in wet zone.[11]
[12]
Layard's parakeet

Psittacula calthrapae
(Blyth, 1849) 		Psittacidae Forests, gardens. Common. Wet zone and some riparian forests dry zone.[11]
[13]
Order Cuculiformes
Red-Faced Malkoha

Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus
(Pennant, 1769) 		Cuculidae Forests. Confined to undisturbed forest areas in the wet zone and riparian forests of the dry zone. Restricted location. All zones.[14]
[15]
Green-billed Coucal

Centropus chlororhynchos
Blyth, 1849 		Cuculidae Undisturbed forests. Associated with bamboo and cane rushes. Restricted range. Low country wet zone and wet foothills.[16]
[17]
Order Strigiformes
Sri Lanka Serendib scops-owl Otus thilohoffmanni
Warakagoda & Rasmussen, 2004 		Strigidae Restricted range. Low country wet zone.[18]
[19]
Sri Lanka chestnut-backed owlet

Chestnut-backed owlet (right) with an Oriental scops-owl

Glaucidium castanotum
(Blyth, 1846) 		Strigidae Forests, scrubs, cultivations. Restricted range. Wet zone and hill country.[18]
[20]
Order Bucerotiformes
Sri Lanka grey hornbill Ocyceros gingalensis
(Shaw, 1811) 		Bucerotidae Forests, gardens. Very common. All zones. Most plentiful in dry zone.[21]
[22]
Order Piciformes
Crimson-backed flameback? Chrysocolaptes stricklandi

(Layard, 1854)

Picidae
[23]
Red-backed flameback?

Dinopium psarodes

(Lichtenstein, 1793)

Picidae
[24]
Yellow-fronted Barbet

Megalaima flavifrons
(Cuvier, 1816) 		Megalaimidae Forests, home gardens. Very common. More common in hill country.[21]
[25]
Crimson-fronted barbet

Megalaima rubricapillus Megalaimidae
[26]
Order Passeriformes
Suborder Passeri: Songbirds
Sri Lanka magpie

Urocissa ornata
(Wagler, 1829) 		Corvidae Undisturbed forests. Restricted range. Wet zone.[27]
[28]
Black-capped bulbul Pycnonotus melanicterus Pycnonotidae
[29]
Sri Lanka yellow-eared bulbul

Pycnonotus penicillatus
Blyth, 1851 		Pycnonotidae Forests, gardens close to forest, Common. Hill country.[30]
[31]
Sri Lanka drongo? Dicrurus lophorinus

(Viellot, 1817)

Dicruridae
[32]
Sri Lanka bush-warbler

Sri Lanka bush-warbler (below) with a yellow-eyed babbler

Bradypterus palliseri
(Blyth, 1851) 		Sylviidae Forest undergrowth. Restricted range. Hill country.[33]
[34]
Sri Lanka brown-capped babbler

Pellorneum fuscocapillus
(Blyth, 1849) 		Timaliidae Forests, scrub jungles. Ground level. Common. All zones.[35]
[36]
Sri Lanka scimitar-babbler

above with an ashy-headed laughingthrush

Pomatorhinus melanurus
Blyth, 1847 		Timaliidae Forests understory. Common. All zones.[35]
[37]
Sri Lanka orange-billed babbler

Orange-billed babbler (below) with a yellow-eared bulbul

Turdoides rufescens
(Blyth, 1847) 		Timaliidae Forests. Common. Wet zone. Less in hill country.[35]
[38]
Sri Lanka ashy-headed laughingthrush

Garrulax cinereifrons
Blyth, 1851 		Timaliidae Forests, mainly in understory and on the ground. Common. Wet zone. More in low country.[35]
[39]
Sri Lanka white-eye

Zosterops ceylonensis
Holdsworth, 1872 		Zosteropidae Forests, gardens, cultivations. Very common. Hill country.[40]
[41]
Sri Lanka myna

Gracula ptilogenys
Blyth, 1846 		Sturnidae Forests. Common. Wet zone. More common in Low country.[42]
[43]
Sri Lanka white-faced starling

Sturnus albofrontatus
(Layard, 1854) 		Sturnidae Forests. Restricted range. Wet zone. Less in hill country.[42]
[44]
Sri Lanka whistling-thrush

Whistling thrush in foreground

Myophonus blighi
(Holdsworth, 1872) 		Turdidae Undisturbed montane forests, streams. Restricted range. Hill country.[45]
[46]
Sri Lanka spot-winged thrush

Spot-winged thrush on the right

Zoothera spiloptera
(Blyth, 1847) 		Turdidae Humid forest undergrowth. Common. All zones. More common in wet zone.[45]
[47]
Sri Lanka scaly thrush

Sri Lanka thrush (left)

Zoothera imbricata
Layard, 1854 		Turdidae Forests undergrowth. Common. Hill country, some locations in low country wet zone.[45]
[48]
Sri Lanka dull-blue flycatcher

(below) with brown-breasted flycatcher and black-naped monarch

Eumyias sordida
(Walden, 1870) 		Muscicapidae Forests, home gardens, well-wooded ravines. Hill country. Also in humid locations in the Low country wet zone.[49]
[50]
Sri Lanka white-throated flowerpecker

with yellow-bellied flowerpecker below

Dicaeum vincens
(Sclater, 1872) 		Dicaeidae Forests. Common. Low country wet zone and lower hill country.[40]
[51]
Sri Lanka woodshrike? Tephrodornis affinis

(Blyth, 1847)

Vangidae

[52]

Sri Lanka swallow?

Cecropis hyperythra

(Blyth, 1849)

Hirundinidae A variety of open country habitats in both the lowlands and foothills in Sri Lanka, including farm fields and lightly wooded areas.[53]

[54]

Source: Kotagama, 2013

Proposed endemics

Rasmussen and Anderton (2005) proposed a number of species splits. Those that would create new endemic species for Sri Lanka are listed below along with their present taxon.[1]

Current species Binomial Proposed splitting Proposed binomial Family Status
Order Piciformes
Greater flameback
Chrysocolaptes lucidus Crimson-backed flameback Chrysocolaptes stricklandi Picidae
[55]
Order Passeriformes
Suborder Passeri: Songbirds
Common woodshrike

Tephrodornis pondicerianus Sri Lanka woodshrike Tephrodornis affinis Vangidae
[56]
Greater racket-tailed drongo

Dicrurus paradiseus Sri Lanka drongo Dicrurus lophorinus Dicruridae
[57]
Red-rumped swallow

Cecropis daurica Sri Lanka swallow

Cecropis hyperythra Hirundinidae
[58]

Source: Kaluthota and Kotagama, 2009

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Kaluthota, C. D.; Kotagama, S.W. (October 2009). "Revised Avifaunal List of Sri Lanka" (PDF). Occasional Paper No.02. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka.
  2. ^ "BirdLife EBA Factsheet". BirdLife's online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation. BirdLife International. 2003. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e Kotagama, Sarath W.; De Silva, Rex I.; Wijayasinha, Athula S.; Abeygunawardane, Vathsala (2006). "Avifaunal List of Sri Lanka". In Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (ed.). Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research and Conservation (PDF). The World Conservation Union, Colombo, Sri Lanka & Government of Sri Lanka. pp. 164–203. ISBN 955-8177-51-2.
  4. ^ Warakagoda, Deepal (January–February 2001). "Discovery of a new species of owl in Sri Lanka" (PDF). CBCN. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b Kotagama 2006: p. 44
  6. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Galloperdix bicalcarata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  7. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Gallus lafayetii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  8. ^ Kotagama 2006: p. 62
  9. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Columba torringtoniae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  10. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Treron pompadora". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  11. ^ a b Kotagama 2006: p. 54
  12. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Loriculus beryllinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  13. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Psittacula calthropae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  14. ^ Kotagama 2006: p. 52
  15. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  16. ^ Kotagama 2006: p. 50
  17. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Centropus chlororhynchus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  18. ^ a b Kotagama 2006: p. 58
  19. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Otus thilohoffmanni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  20. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Glaucidium castanonotum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  21. ^ a b Kotagama 2006: p. 48
  22. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Ocyceros gingalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  23. ^ International), BirdLife International (BirdLife (1 October 2016). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Chrysocolaptes stricklandi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  24. ^ International), BirdLife International (BirdLife (1 October 2016). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dinopium psarodes". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  25. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Megalaima flavifrons". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  26. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Megalaima rubricapillus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  27. ^ Kotagama 2006: p. 72
  28. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Urocissa ornata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  29. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Pycnonotus melanicterus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  30. ^ Kotagama 2006: p. 82
  31. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Pycnonotus penicillatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  32. ^ International), BirdLife International (BirdLife (1 October 2016). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dicrurus lophorinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  33. ^ Kotagama 2006: p. 84
  34. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Bradypterus palliseri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  35. ^ a b c d Kotagama 2006: p. 90
  36. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Pellorneum fuscocapillus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  37. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Pomatorhinus melanurus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  38. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Turdoides rufescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  39. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Garrulax cinereifrons". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  40. ^ a b Kotagama 2006: p. 88
  41. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Zosterops ceylonensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  42. ^ a b Kotagama 2006: p. 80
  43. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Gracula ptilogenys". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  44. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Sturnus albofrontatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  45. ^ a b c Kotagama 2006: p. 78
  46. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Myophonus blighi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  47. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Zoothera spiloptera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  48. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Zoothera imbricata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  49. ^ Kotagama 2006: p. 76
  50. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Eumyias sordidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  51. ^ BirdLife International (2008). "Dicaeum vincens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  52. ^ International), BirdLife International (BirdLife (1 October 2016). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Tephrodornis affinis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  53. ^ "Sri Lanka Swallow – eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  54. ^ International), BirdLife International (BirdLife (1 October 2016). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cecropis hyperythra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  55. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Chrysocolaptes lucidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  56. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Tephrodornis pondicerianus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  57. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Dicrurus paradiseus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  58. ^ International), BirdLife International (BirdLife (1 October 2016). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cecropis daurica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 October 2020.

Literature cited

  • Kotagama, Sarath (2006). Common, Endemic & Threatened Birds in Sri Lanka. Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka. p. 125. ISBN 955-8576-19-0.
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