BY FLORENCE Wickramage

THE Uda Walawe National Park, famous for elephants, has suddenly hit the limelight as a birding spot for migrant birds. During the post-tsunami days, environmentalists and bird lovers have observed rare species of migrant birds not recorded in Sri Lanka earlier.

The first sighting of two pairs of rare birds - the Red-Headed Bunting and the Black-Headed Bunting were observed by W. Susantha, a volunteer tracker employed by the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Both species are known to winter regularly in India.

According to reports the Red-Headed Bunting (Emberiza Bruniceps) breeds in Baluchistan while the Black Headed Bunting (Emberiza Melanocephala) breeds in Iran, the Middle East, Caucasus, Southern Russia and the Balkans. According to ringing records, a Black-Headed Bunting travels up to 7,000 km to its winter grounds.

A few other rare species of migrant birds have also been observed here. According to environmentalists, other rarities such as the Citrine Wagtail and White Wagtail have been recorded at the Uda Walawe Causeway, a few metres from the end of the embankment en route to the Park Office inside the National Park. The scarce but regular migrants Blyth's Pipit and Indian Red-Rumped Swallows have also been observed.

Around 30 Blyth's Pipits (Anthus Godlewskii) and Indian Red-Rumped Swallows (Hirundo Daurica) had earlier been observed near the Park entrance. Statistics reveal that the Red-Rumped Swallow had been considered as a resident race in the country.

Reports say the species has now been `split' by Ornithologist Pamela Rasmussen into a new species endemic to Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Swallow (Hirundo Hyperythra).

The Sri Lanka list is enriched by two migrant races the Indian Red-Rumped Swallow (Hirundo Daurica Erythropygia) and the much scarer Nepali Red-Rumped Swallow (Hirundo Daurica Nipalensis).

Accordingly 440 species of birds have been reliably recorded in Sri Lanka.