Sri Lanka, “The Pearl of the Indian Ocean,” is one of the most beautiful countries in Asia, a tropical utopia with breathtaking scenery.  This island nation lies off of the southeast tip of India with the Bay of Bengal to the north and Indian Ocean to the south. It’s well known for its wild Asian elephants, its own subspecies of leopard, and a list of more than 20 mammal species in the wild.  A safe, friendly and wonderful country to travel to, you won’t want to miss the excellent food, ancient dagobas (or thupa/stupas), and of course, the birds!

Your guide for this tour will be Upali Ekanayake, the senior most Ornithological Tour Leader in the country with more than 30 years of field experience.

On this trip, you’ll be visiting areas of lush rainforest, village orchards, dry woodland, scrub forest, freshwater wetlands, farmland, coastal pools and city parks. Sri Lanka is a country that is not only a wonderful birding location but also an experience that reminds birders that variety is just as exciting as a high level of endemism.

Sri Lanka Blue Magpie by Cris Heins

Birders come here for Sri Lanka’s bird list of over 430 species, of which 233 are resident and include 26 endemic. Most of the resident species are shared with the Asian mainland. A further 198 species have been recorded as migrants to the country. Of the migrants, about 100 species regularly visit the country; the rest are occasional visitors and vagrants.

Sri Lanka is a must for birders wanting to see exciting endemic birds such as Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, Serendib Scops Owl, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Spot-winged Thrush and Red-backed Flameback. With superb south Asian birds that include Malabar Trogon, Great Thick-knee, Indian Pitta, Malabar Pied Hornbill and Jerdon’s Nightjar, this is a trip that not only provides quality but quantity too.

And if you love wildlife, then you’ll be heading out on a safari at some of the country’s best national parks, including Udawalawe National Park, Wilpattu National Park and the famous Yala National Park. Yala NP has the highest density of leopards anywhere in the world, and this gives you a good chance of spotting one! 

Over the course of the trip,  you’ll enjoy world-class birding and mammal-watching, delicious cuisine, and the warm hospitality this beautiful island country offers.

Join Birding Ecotours for a good chance to find almost every eastern warbler (37 species, most of them dazzlingly colorful!)! Kirtland’s Warbler migrates through this area but is easy to miss and a lot of luck is needed to find it.

Magnolia Warbler by Jacob Roalef

Some of the other warblers are also difficult, but the trip is timed to give us the best chance at Connecticut, Mourning, and Canada Warblers, plus other less common species. However, many of the warblers are abundant and we usually see stacks of Blackburnian, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, Prothonotary, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, and Black-and-white Warblers, American Redstart, Northern Parula, etc. These are some of America’s brightest, most beautiful birds. We also expect to see a lot of the duller warblers such as Blackpoll Warbler with its orange legs, Tennessee Warbler, Nashville Warbler, etc.

We spend two nights in the hilly extreme south of Ohio on the edge of the Appalachians for some other fantastic warblers including the Vulnerable, beautiful Cerulean Warbler, the unusual Worm-eating Warbler, and some dazzling yellow and black ones in the form of Kentucky and Hooded Warblers. Yellow-breasted Chat is also easiest to find here near the southern state line.

To maximize territory covered and birding time, this trip will start in Cincinnati and conclude in Detroit.

Price: US $3,150 per person, sharing
Single supplement: US $690

View the FULL ITINERARY HERE.

Questions? Contact GGBA Travel Coordinator Dawn Lemoine at travelprogram@goldengatebirds.org
Ready to register? Contact Dawn first. She will put you in touch with Birding Ecotours.

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