In addition to our usual guests, the estate with its fruit trees and ample foliage also attracts and becomes a home to various birds: both native to Sri Lanka as well as migratory ones that drop by for a short stay. Whilst staying in Kirinda Walauwa, guests have often spoken of the birds they have noticed during leisurely walks or while relaxing near our garden and around the home.

Endemics

  • The seven sisters, light brown in colour with yellow beaks and feet. They are very noisy but friendly and are always seen in sevens (Orange-Billed Babbler or Demalichcha in Sinhalese)
  • Magpies, black and white in colour and have a mournful cry. Traditionally they carry a message: one for sorrow, two for joy, three means a wedding!
  • The kingfisher is another bird in beautiful bright blue, brown and white with a long brown beak, who waits patiently for hours for its prey. (Common Kingfisher)
  • The woodpecker, dark red, white and brown in colour with a red crown, is a working bird that goes from tree to tree digging holes. (Common Flameback)
  • The Myna, another friendly bird which is dark brown and white with yellow around the eyes, beak and feet of the same color some have known to be trained to speak.
  • Parrots of two or three kinds in beautiful shades of blue-green with long and short tails appear often.
  • The common Pigeon coloured in gray and blue
  • The House and Field Sparrows
  • Humming birds attracted to the garden
  • Water Wagtails

Migrants

The migrant birds that come during September/October visit the country to avoid the cold climate in other countries.