User:Kasun withanage/sandbox

A very first sight record of a sri lanka whistling thrush from kithulgala area by kasun chathuranga

Introduction

The sri lanka whistling thrush ( Myphonus blighi ), belongs to the family Muscicapidae (Holdswarth, 1872) is a resident endemic bird mostly confined in the highlands of sri lanka. Due to habitat lost, at an elevation of 2000m up in Horton plains, and in Haggala Botanical gardens closing Nuwara eliya, can possibly witness their observation. As it is noteworthy to mention, the whistling thrush or in Sinhala"Arangaya" is confined in IUCN Red list of threatened species (IUCN Bird life international 2012). And also this specie appears in a 75c Sri Lanka postal map as well.

Observation

These both male & female birds (In relevant to the pictures dark blue & brown) were observed near a little water stream, bathing. It was a little complication to recognize at first sight, untill hearing the call. And the location was Ampana reservation near Kithulgala in sabaragamuwa province of Sri Lanka on 15th of January 2019 at 10.30 a.m. In a surrounding area that exists a wet zone rainy weather (25°c). The distinctive characteristic features of the bird was observed using Canon 7d mark ii camera with 150-600 lens.

Discussion

As previously mentioned Whistling thrush inhabits mostly in the highlands, jungle or other dense forest in wet zone. Though Ampana reservation could be considered as in a wet zone, the location doesn't have the general atmosphere in Horton plains at elevation of 2000m or even in Haggala. And also there are no records left about a capturing of a whistling thrush near Kithulgala before. As a notoriously difficult fact the male sings its simple whistling song, even in breeding season from trees, usually in deep cover. So if the atmosphere and other qualities are favorable to whistling thrush, a successful breeding will be easy to provide in kithulgala area, apart from the atmosphere in wet plains.

Acknowledgment

I sincerely thank Mr. G.R. Shanaka Lakmina for the guidance and......

References

Holdswarth 1872 (A guide to the Myphonus blighi species) Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush (wikipedia) IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red list of threatened species ( 2012 )