Sri Lanka Birding Tour – 10 days (Private Tour)

Upon your arrival in Sri Lanka, you will be transferred to Kitulgala which was used as a location in the filming of David Lean’s award-winning film ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ and is considered one of the island’s most picturesque locations as well as a hotspot for endemic birds. Depending on your time of arrival, you can choose to rest at your hotel, or do a short bird-watching trail with your personal guide and hope to encounter some of Sri Lanka’s endemic bird species including the Orange-billed Babbler and the Chestnut-backed Owlet that have been recorded here.

After breakfast, enjoy a full-day tour of the Makandawa rain forest in Kitulgala which boasts an impressive list of endemic, migratory and resident birds. Many of the wet zone endemics such as the Sri Lanka Green Pigeon, Hanging Parrot, Layard’s Parakeet, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Barbet, Black-capped Bulbul and the Spot-winged Thrush can be sighted here. Afterwards, you will spend the night close to nature at a comfortable hotel.

After breakfast you will then be taken to the Sinharaja rainforest, which is recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Another highlight of this forest is the mixed-species of bird flocks, averaging up to 42 individual species, which make this the world’s largest mixed-species bird flock. The mixed-species bird flock study of the Sinharaja forest has been continuing since 1981 and is considered the World’s longest bird flock study. Birding highlights include: the Red-faced Malkoha, Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, White-faced Starling and Scaly Thrush. After lunch, check-in to your hotel in Sinharaja before a bird-watching tour in the forest. We have also planned a night birding trail, where you may spot some of Sri Lanka’s nocturnal species including the Chestnut-backed Owlet and Serendib Scops Owl. Your overnight stay will be at a hotel selected given its close proximity to the forest.

Following an early breakfast, enjoy a day of exploration (with packed lunches) in the beautiful Sinharaja rain forest where we will search for more wet lowland forest birds including endemics. Depending on your interest, our guide will also help you to identify many butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles, forest mammals and other wildlife. If you are feeling up to it, you could also do a night-walk along the peripheries of the reserve. At the close of the day, you will spend the night at a hotel close to Sinharaja Forest.

Enjoy a pre-breakfast trail before you are taken to Udawalawe where you will check-in at the Glamping Tented Camp. Go on a safari at this 30,821-hectare dry zone game park in Udawalawe, where you may see an array of resident bird species including Grey Hornbills and Brown-capped Babblers, as well as birds of prey such as the White-bellied Sea Eagle and the Crested Serpent-Eagle. This Park is famous for its herds of elephants, seen feeding and bathing at watering holes with their playful calves. Among the migrant birds found here are: the Purple Kingfishers, Forest Wagtails, Indian Pittas, Whiskered Terns, Osprey Sandpipers and Terns. A night-time birding trail is also scheduled for you, after dinner, once you have settled in at the Glamping site in Udawalawe.

Early in the morning you will transfer to the Bundala National Park for a special jeep safari. Bundala has been internationally recognized as an important wintering ground for migratory birds. An evening safari at the Yala National Park is organized with a night birding trail and an overnight stay at the glamping Camp in Yala. Boasting the highest leopard population density in the world, the Yala National Park is a haven for wildlife enthusiasts while being widely noted as the best place in the world to film and photograph the Sri Lankan Leopard. At the close of your adventures for the day, you can look forward to your overnight stay at Glamping site in Yala.

Venture back into the Yala National Park for a morning safari to see some of the 215 different bird species that reside within the Park. You may be able to spot species such as Barbets, Blue-Breasted Quail and Barred Buttonquail as well as mammals like the Asian elephant, sloth-bears and leopards. Then we will whisk you off to the hills of Nuwara Eliya where on the way you will visit the Hakgala Botanical Gardens, with an array of flowers and plants. You will spend the night at a Nuwara Eliya hotel.

Before dawn, with packed breakfasts, you will be taken to the Horton Plains National Park in the central highlands of Sri Lanka which is recognized as an Important Bird Areas (IBAs). Horton Plains is home to several resident and endemic species of birds including: the Yellow-Eared Bulbul, Wood Pigeon, Sri Lanka Bush Warbler and most importantly, the endangered Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush and Scaly Thrush. We should also be able to sight the Sambar Deer and the endemic Purple-faced Monkey. After a late lunch, you will next proceed to the hill capital of Kandy with an overnight stay at a hotel.

In the morning, after a birding trail, your next stop will be Negombo, with the option of visiting Kandy’s cultural sites en route. If there’s time, you may even visit the Kurulu Kele Bird Sanctuary in Kegalle. Kurulu Kele is a protected area of just over 113 hectares where once again you will be able to spot some of the 95 recorded bird species, including 10 endemics, such as the Spur fowl, Yellow-Fronted Barbet, Ceylon Small Barbet and the Legge’s Flowerpecker – that grace the island-paradise. Then you will spend the night at a hotel, before the final day.

We’ve reached the end of your 09-night bird watching holiday to Sri Lanka and it is time to depart. Your chauffeur will take you to Colombo Airport in time to catch your departure flight.