Birds in Bunda Wetland, Sri Lanka

Birds in Bunda Wetland, Sri Lanka Cont.

Wetlands are extremely rich in biodiversity: waterbirds such as herons, egrets, swans, ducks and geese, and waders use wetlands during lifetime. At least 12% of all Globally Threatened Birds, (146 species) depend on wetlands. The most important types of wetlands for these birds are lakes and pools, rivers and streams, bogs, marshes and swamps, and coastal lagoons.

Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird. Four flamingo species are distributed throughout the Americas, including the Caribbean, and two species are native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. Flamingos are water birds, and in and around lagoons or lakes with saline or alkaline water.

The most famous visitors to Bundala are the flocks of flamingos with 1,500-2,000 birds. The Greater Flamingos migrate during the winter season to south after they breed in Rann of Kutch India/Pakistan. Bundala is the last refuge to Flamingos in the southern Sri Lanka.

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a long-legged predatory wading bird of the heron family, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is a bird of wetlands, that can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water or stalking its prey through the shallows.

A Juvenile grey heron

The striated heron (Butorides striata) also known as mangrove heron, is a little heron about 44 cm tall. Striated herons are mostly non-migratory and breed in wetlands in the tropics.

Eurasian spoonbill is a widely distributed bird around the world. It can be seen in shallow muddy Sri Lankan wetlands of dry zone while searching for foods. This bird can be easily identified by the spoon like beak and the white colored crest.

Wetlands are important bird habitats, and birds use them for breeding, nesting, and rearing young. Birds also use wetlands as a source of drinking water and for feeding, resting, shelter, and social interactions.

The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (Numenius arquata) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. They are migrators who wintering in Africa, southern Europe and South Asia.

The grey-headed fish eagle (Haliaeetus ichthyaetus) is a fish-eating bird of prey lives in Southern Asia.They live in lowland forests up to 1,500m above sea-level. The nests are close to bodies of water such as slow-moving rivers and streams, lakes, lagoons, reservoirs, marshes, swamps and coastal lagoons and estuaries. They are also known to irrigation tanks in Sri Lanka.

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Credits:

Ajith Gamage