Kithulgala is the place I made a decision to offer again to society, donating copious quantities of blood to the ravenous native leech inhabitants. Whereas I didn’t obtain a Nobel Prize for my efforts, I prefer to suppose it was appreciated nonetheless.
And it was price it, given the variety of fascinating fowl species within the space.
Many of those are Sri Lanka endemics, and my favourite amongst these is the Serendib Scops Owl, which was additionally a protagonist in a current collaborative put up on scops owls.
It’s listed as Endangered and has a really small vary – in line with one estimate, the inhabitants is barely about 150–700 people.
The owl is the primary newly found fowl species in additional than a century – it was solely seen in 2001 and scientifically described in 2004.
To have fun, the Sri Lankan authorities even put the Serendib Scops Owl on a banknote. I simply want it had been a much bigger denomination than 20 Rupees – a price lower than 7 US cents does probably not do the fowl justice.
The opposite factor not so cool about this species is its scientific identify, Otus thilohoffmanni, apparently honoring Thilo Walter Hoffmann (1922-2014), a Swiss agricultural scientist, lengthy resident in Sri Lanka, and an ornithologist. A few of Elon Musk’s youngsters most likely have higher names than this owl.
The Chestnut-backed Owlet is “solely” listed as Close to Threatened, with a inhabitants estimated at 15,000 to 30,000.
On condition that it is a small owl with solely a brief entry within the HBW, it’s stunning that stated entry was authored by a complete of 10 authors – perhaps every of them contributed one sentence?
Unusually, the Peregrine Fund states that “Although the Chestnut-backed Owlet lives far-off from Boise, Idaho, you possibly can nonetheless be taught quite a bit about owls with a go to to our Velma Morrison Interpretive Heart at The Peregrine Fund headquarters.” And about tips on how to direct Google Searches to your personal web site.
Taking pictures of the Chestnut-backed Owlet bought me right into a sweat – in spite of everything, it lives in a moist and tropically scorching atmosphere. I used to be due to this fact shocked to learn the Greenverz assertion that the feathers of the owl “are gentle and downy, offering glorious insulation in opposition to the cool, damp forests the place it lives.”
A web site of the “Zoologists Affiliation of College of Sri Jayewardenepura” has extra complicated data on the owl: “The species is usually noticed in the course of the day, particularly at evening”.
Coming again to the subject of banknotes (“Studying about finance and economics with 10,000 Birds”, a course offering important monetary literacy for in any other case clueless birders), the Orange-billed Babbler appears to rank increased within the Sri Lankan monetary meals chain, gracing the 100 Rupee observe.
However the babbler nonetheless ranks under the Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, at the least from the angle of banknotes – the parrot is on the 1000 Rupee observe.
Sorry, that was too quick. We weren’t finished with the Orange-billed Babbler but.
When trying up a species for the primary time, I’m at all times hoping for an fascinating scientific identify. Possibly after an individual? Did that individual have slaves? Rape midgets? Promote fentanyl?
So, the scientific identify of the Orange-billed Babbler, Argya rufescens, is kind of a disappointment. Simply stating that the fowl is reddish (rufescens) doesn’t give me something to jot down about. So I’ve to begin the tedious strategy of looking for some analysis paper with fascinating details on the species – not boring particulars similar to their measurement (25 cm) or clutch measurement (2-3 eggs).
If I had been to be reincarnated as an Orange-billed Babbler, I most likely wouldn’t do too effectively, because the species is usually described as gregarious (which I’m not). Nonetheless, this makes it a really perfect candidate because the main species of mixed-species flocks in Sri Lanka (supply).
Okay, again to the 1000 Rupees fowl, the Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot. Does the banknote proven above actually have a berylline coloration, that’s, a lightweight blue-green shade? A minimum of that’s what the scientific identify of the species, Loriculus beryllinus, implies.
There are 15 species of Hanging Parrots (genus Loriculus) – their primary declare to fame is the flexibility to sleep the wrong way up. Typically it doesn’t take a lot to be well-known, as I just lately found myself.
The Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot can be featured in an fascinating article on the rarity (or non-rarity) of species. The title provides a abstract of the article: “Most Species Are Uncommon (However Not Very Uncommon)“.
And in case you have roughly 40 USD to spare, you could take into account shopping for a murals displaying a Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot. And no, we don’t get a fee.
Sufficient with the cash – there are a number of endemics not featured on Sri Lankan banknotes, perhaps as a result of their coloration doesn’t match the focused banknote colours (Andy Warhol: “You’d be shocked how many individuals need to cling an electrical chair on their living-room wall. Specifically if the background coloration matches the drapes”).
However there’s a comfort prize for Sri Lankan endemics – being featured on a Sri Lanka stamp. Just like the Spot-winged Thrush.
It’s extremely range-restricted, and listed as Close to Threatened.
And it appears higher in actuality than on a stamp.
There appear to be fairly many Sri Lankan stamps with fowl motives – see right here for an summary. I’ve to confess they make for extra engaging stamps than the Kithulgala leeches.
Whereas the Spot-winged Thrush prefers to forage near forest trails relatively than within the forest inside, it does this much less if there are disturbances on the paths (i.e., vacationers). And these are usually not even the noisiest of vacationers, the Chinese language …
Sri Lanka additionally has its endemic coucal, which for some purpose is just not referred to as Sri Lanka Coucal however Inexperienced-billed Coucal.
It’s now listed as Susceptible (beforehand: Endangered) – in line with the HBW, it’s a “uncommon, native and declining species, endangered by the continued lack of its forest habitat to agriculture.” Frighteningly, its whole inhabitants is estimated at no quite a lot of hundred pairs, in line with the HBW, although Datazone provides a determine of two,500 – 9,999 people.
In any case, it’s the rarest of Sri Lanka’s endemic species.
The scientific identify, Centropus chlororhynchos, signifies that the invoice of the coucal is greenish-yellow (just like the chemical ingredient chlorine), which inserts higher than the frequent identify.
On earthlife, an individual named Gordon Ramel (who describes himself as “an ecologist with two levels from Exeter College”) has a put up on the Inexperienced-billed Coucal, during which he accurately describes the invoice of the species as gentle inexperienced – after which illustrates the put up with a photograph of a Larger Coucal (with a really black invoice). “Will we ever totally belief the Internet once more?”
On condition that the HBW describes the Black-capped Bulbul as a “Medium-sized, noisy, conspicuous bulbul ” that supposedly is among the most typical forest birds in Sri Lanka, I solely noticed just a few of them.
And didn’t get very convincing pictures.
The Brown-capped Babbler apparently is an understory specialist – it will get misplaced when experimentally launched in a rubber plantation (supply).
The analysis additionally reveals that species like this babbler are very delicate to forest fragmentation, as they don’t depart their understory regardless of having wings.
Kithulgala additionally has one of many two endemic hornbill species of Sri Lanka, the unimaginatively named Sri Lanka Gray Hornbill.
The one I noticed will need to have simply taken a shower someplace …
… most likely on a break from feeding his accomplice, which was safely enclosed in a tree gap. The timing was proper – in line with one paper, nesting begins early in March (the photograph was taken on March 18).
Whereas this nest was in a pure tree, apparently aluminum pots additionally work …
On condition that this put up is already (too) lengthy, I’ll solely add one non-endemic species seen at Kithulgala: the Malabar Trogon.
Like many residents of retirement houses, and like different members of the trogon household, it doesn’t transfer a lot. That’s good for pictures, however not nice for individuals taking movies. Glad I didn’t strive.
Really, make that two species. The Orange Minivet simply appears too good.
Info on coloration coding: feminine yellow, male orange.
And eventually, one weird-looking non-bird.
