A week in Sri Lanka part 3

This post is for the passerines (apart from the swallows of part 2), of which there were lots, and lots.


A Black-headed Munia seen in the highlands. Very small, sturdy little finch. I also saw Scaly-breasted Munia.

House Crows. The commonest bird in towns, where they seem to fill the niches of pigeons and gulls (as well as crows). In more rural areas there were also Jungle Crows.

This is a Rufous-winged Bushlark. Only saw this one, on the roadside in a quiet farmland area.

White-browed Fantail. What a great bird, constantly bouncing around and showing off that tail. This one was in the garden at Sigiriya - we saw one other on a roadside near the rainforest.

Yellow-billed Babbler, seen near marshland. They go around in small flocks and seem very devoted to each other.

Indian Robin. A lively character, common around villages, very approachable.

 This is a Thick-billed Flowerpecker, very small bird, superficially finch-like. We also saw Pale-billed Flowerpecker.

These are my favourites - wish I'd seen more of them (and managed better photos). They're White-bellied Drongos.

This shy stunner, seen in the marshes, is a Golden-fronted Leafbird.

 Another babbler, but it's not closely related to the Yellow-billed. This one is Yellow-eyed Babbler.

White-browed Bulbul, a rather shy woodland bird.

This is a Jungle Prinia, seen in the hotel grounds and also out in the fields. Also saw Ashy Prinia. EDIT - no, it's not. The guide told us it was, but I had my doubts, and just checked. It's actually a Common Tailorbird.

The Common Myna is very common indeed, in both town and country, and is a great singer and mimic.

A hastily grabbed shot of the only Oriental White-eye that we saw.

The Purple-rumped Sunbird is one of the commonest small birds on the island, including in towns. This is a male, the female is less colourful but still a very pretty little thing.

Terrible photo of an Oriental Magpie Robin, singing at dusk in the hotel grounds.

This is a male Common Iora, with the female in the photo above. Seen in a semi-wooded rural area.

Another very common bird, the Red-vented Bulbul is a confiding, show-offy sort of character.

Also common but much less in-your-face is the dazzling Black-headed Oriole.

Finally, one for the UK twitchers - Blyth's Reed Warbler. Another marshland denizen.