Sri Lanka Shama
The newest endemic. It was separated from the White-rumped Shama in 2022, without one feather of it having changed. Sometimes the looking changes, and not the bird.
Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler
Named for its bill. Pairs sing in such close duet that one bird can sound like two, or two like one.
Brown-capped Babbler
It walks through the leaf litter, the same colour as what it walks on. Its song gives it away long before its shape does.
Sri Lanka Swallow
Once treated as a race of the Red-rumped Swallow. The richer colour of the underside is the clue, and it can only be seen when the bird banks.
Black-capped Bulbul
A clear, sweet song from the scrub. The black cap is the sign of a bird that lives only here.
Crimson-fronted Barbet
Small enough to sit in full view and still go unnoticed. It also goes by the name Sri Lanka Small Barbet.
Red-backed Flameback
A garden bird many Sri Lankans see every week, and it lives nowhere else on Earth.
Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill
A hornbill with no casque, easily overlooked for that reason. Listen for the wingbeats overhead.
Red-faced Malkoha
It climbs through the canopy like a squirrel, and it depends on tall, undisturbed forest. Few birds say more about the health of a forest.
Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot
It sleeps hanging upside down like a bat. Look up into the flowering trees, and then look again at what you took for a leaf.