Sarath Kotagama

Basics: 1995, softcover, 224 pages, 32 color plates of 238 species, 430 species covered, no range maps

This field guide covers all the resident, migrant, and vagrant birds of Sri Lanka. The resident birds are illustrated in the 32 color plates while the migrant, pelagic, and vagrant birds are briefly addressed in a 25-page appendix.

The color plates show various plumages when notable differences exist between the genders and seasons. Except for some of the raptors and shorebirds, most of the birds are shown only perched or standing with few of them displayed in flight. The artwork of the plates is merely average due to the slightly skewed physical structures and colorations that are a bit cartoonish at times. However, I must admit the artist did a decent job at capturing the necessary color patterns that will make identification possible for most of the birds – other than some shorebirds, warblers, or prinias. Another 100 or so small black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout the text. These merely serve to give a general appearance of the bird and are not geared towards identification.

Very brief (one line or so) of text is given with the bird’s name (in English, local Sinhala, and scientific), habitat, and status across from each plate. This information is sparse and contains nothing that is not already visible in the plate. Very little, if any, descriptions are given for the vocalizations. Additional text is offered for each bird in the last half of the book. However, this is typically very limited and merely a small continuance of the bird’s description, habitat or status. This information would have been much better placed altogether across from the plate instead of forcing the reader to flip between pages to read all the material – which is not much even when combined.

Similar, but less, information is given for the remainder of the non-resident birds in the appendix.

This book can be used for your birding in Sri Lanka, but is inferior to Harrison’s later book “Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka”. This book has much better artistry, more plumage variations, and more information dedicated to identification. Other better all-India guides are also available for the island of Sri Lanka.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka by Harrison
2) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Sri Lanka by Wijeyeratne et al.
3) A Guide to the Birds of Ceylon by Henry
4) A History of the Birds of Ceylon by Legge
5) A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives by Grimmett/Inskipp
6) Birds of India by Grimmett
7) Birds of Southern India by Grimmett/Inskipp
8) A Field Guide to Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak
9) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal et al.… (mais)