Birdwatching vacations in Sri Lanka

Conservation in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has a long tradition of conservation. Its monarchy used to ban tree felling in the forests. The first national park – Yala – was founded in 1900 and legislation for wild bird protection followed in the 20th century. Population expansion, and subsequent deforestation, have clouded this legacy, and deforestation remains a huge environmental concern in the country.

In the recent past, wildlife has not always been highly prized. “When I was a kid, my parents didn’t know anything about conservation or environmental protection. They did not teach us anything about these things. But when my son was a small kid there were so many awareness programmes.” Jith’s son is in his twenties now – “My son’s generation is better than us,” Jith says.

There is renewed interest in conservation – if you know where to look. Sri Lanka is on track to be the first nation in the world to replant all of its ecosystem-boosting mangrove forests, with help from Seacology, a Californian conservation charity. There are large scale projects to remove invasive species from national parks. There are local projects too. Diyasaru Nature Club – promoted by the environment ministry – is a local group for young people that meets to protect Colombo’s urban wetland. And our partners Tree Tops Jungle Lodge, on the outskirts of Yala National Park, spent over 20 years restoring the land around them to wilderness, so that guests on our Sri Lanka eco camp stays are completely surrounded by nature.

And, as Jith says, tourism can play its part, too, by paying park fees and spending money in local communities, and in this way putting money in the hands of those with the power to conserve.

What endemic birds are there in Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka’s endemic birds include the beautiful Sri Lankan junglefowl, who, with their colourful comb and purple-black tail, is a direct ancestor of the domestic chicken. There’s the endangered whistling thrush and the spot-winged thrush with its pretty call, and the exceptionally hard-to-spot Serendib scops owl.

Other colourful characters include hanging parrots – bright green, with stubby tails, and dapper blue and burgundy Sri Lankan magpies, far more flamboyant than their monochrome-suited European counterparts.

Endemic birds appear on all denominations of the current series of Sri Lankan banknotes: the Sri Lankan Dull Blue Flycatcher on the blue fifty Rupee note; a Sri Lankan Orange Billed Babbler on the orange hundred Rupee note. But nothing beats seeing them in real life.

Local operators

Tourism in Sri Lanka has fluctuated in recent decades; the country has seen several recent periods of unrest. It was one such period in the noughties when Jith, having lost his job transferring tourists from the airport to their hotel and back again, decided to specialise – first in trekking, and then in being a wildlife guide. At last, he set up his own company.

“There are very few guides who like trekking because it is hard work – you’re walking 20km-25km a day,” says Jith. Eventually, he taught himself about wildlife. “I learnt by myself. I read by myself, and I also went out and walked, and learnt from nature.”

Jith went on to study Wildlife Conservation and Management at the Open University of Sri Lanka. He now employs seven wildlife guides – all Sri Lankan – to run the tours. These are specialist guides who can identify hundreds of birds by sight, and by their calls.

Whilst it might beat being a trekking guide, the life of a birder can be unglamorous; take the leech socks – plastic tubing for your legs – that you’ll probably want to don if you want to walk in Sinharaja. But the rewards, of spotting a green-billed coucal – a cuckoo-like endemic bird – or the strange, grumpy-looking frogmouth, are worth it.

As we chat, Jith describes bird calls, “the drongo has a very loud alarm call”, lists off species with incredible fluency, but struggles to pick his favorite bird, “I like them all. Even the crow is a very special for me. They are very intelligent birds.”

You can hear the street noise outside as Jith talks – he is based near Colombo.

“But we cannot talk about the conservation just from Colombo, just from five star hotels,” he says. His tours walk the walk – they go to the villages, bringing money, and spreading a love of birds as they go. “They should feel the benefit of conservation, otherwise it is a failure.”