A Naturalist’s Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka

Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne is one of Sri Lanka's most high profile wildlife personalities. In the words of British TV Naturalist Bill Oddie, no single individual has done so much to brand a country for its wildlife. A graduate from Imperial College, London, he has been passionate about Sri Lanka's wildlife since the age of three when he went on his first leopard safari in Yala. He has authored and photographed over 300 articles for national and international newspapers and magazines on Sri Lankan biodiversity, travel, and business topics.

Written by an experienced birder with a track record for writing to a popular audience, this is an ideal, portable guide for residents and visitors alike. The author's top quality photographs are accompanied by detailed species descriptions, which include nomenclature, plumage, distribution, habits, and habitat. The species accounts cover 75 of the 82 families of birds recorded in Sri Lanka and distinguish between highly scarce migrants and vagrants to explain what a realistic and good 'country list' and 'trip list' would be for residents and visitors respectively. The user-friendly introduction covers bird topography, bird orders, a novel photographic summary in taxonomic order of all 34 endemic birds that are key target species, and the main sites for viewing the listed species. Also included is a checklist of all of the birds of Sri Lanka encompassing, for each species, its common and scientific names as well as its national status.