'Scaly-breasted Munia' - Lonchura punctulata, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Photos taken in our home garden at Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

'Indian Robin' - Saxicoloides fulicata, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Largish water-bird, Thantrimale, Sri Lanka.

'Purple-rumped Sunbird - Nectarinia zeylonica - Meethirigala, Gampaha, Sri Lanka.

'House Sparrow' - Passer domesticus indicus, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

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The 'House Sparrow' was the commonest bird seen close to dwellings in Sri Lanka up to about 15 years ago. Each household would have an empty pot with a hole at the bottom of the pot, hung by a nail on the outer wall of the house. This was the preferred place for the sparrows to build their nests. Predators like the 'Rat snake' could not reach the chicks in these pots.The 'House-Sparrows'  disappeared for a few years. We still do not know the cause of this sudden disappearance. Now they are making a come-back. I took these photos in our home-garden.

'Indian Robin' - saxicoloides fulicata, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Male

Female.

An Asian Open-bill - Anastomus oscitans, and A Great Egret - Casmerodius albus, on a paddy field at Buthpitiya, Gampaha, Sri Lanka.

Darter - Anhinga melanogaster, Buthpitiya, Sri Lanka.

Purple-rumped Sunbird - Nectarinia zeylonica, Home garden, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

A male with its beautiful plumage.

A not so pretty female.

You need to be quick and have a fast focus and fast shutter release on your camera to take photos of them. I used a Nikon D90 with a 70-300mm zoom Nikkor lens.

'Purple-rumped Sun-bird' - Nectarinia zeylonica - Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Sun-birds drinking nectar from the coconut flowers and pollinating them in our garden at Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

'Oriental White-eye' - Zosterops palpebrosa - Home garden, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

A rare visitor to the bird bath in our garden.

'Red-vented Bulbul - Pycnonotus cafer - taking a bath, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

'House Sparrow' - Passer domesticus indicus - Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

A male in beautiful plumage and the female seen gathering grass leaves for nest-building. The male was doing all the work while the female was 'supervising'.

Juvenile Oriental Magpie Robin - Copsychus saularis - Saman Dewala, Rathnapura, Sri Lanka.

Asian Koel - Eudynamys scolopacea, Mutwal, Sri Lanka.

 

Announcing the arrival of summer with its strident call the Koel is a welcome call of the season. To get a glimpse of it is not easy as it hides in the branches of tall trees. It lurks to lay its eggs in the crows nest.

'Spotted Dove' - Streptopelia chinensis ceylonensis, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

A frequently encountered bird.

Video:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MNw9ZPTvYE

'Yellow-billed Babbler' - Turdoides affinis taprobanus, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

 The commonest bird in our garden. They work in groups and are always babbling. They are good friends with the squirrels and make a din when cats or Rat-snakes are around.

 Video:-
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JES2YufQQGA

'Black Robin' - Saxicoloides fulicata, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

Watch Video by clicking on the web-link below:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbOtumZ4lZo

Pictures and video taken in our garden.