Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler

Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler

Pomatorhinus melanurus

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered Endemic
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Sinharaja Forest Reserve
704 Verified sightings at Sinharaja Forest Reserve From 2019 to 2026
994 Verified sightings across all 3 parks From 2019 to 2026
September Best month highest sighting rate
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted at dawn and dusk

About the Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler

The Sri Lanka scimitar babbler or Ceylon scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus melanurus) is an Old World babbler. It is endemic to the island of Sri Lanka and was formerly treated as a subspecies of Indian scimitar babbler. The nominate form is found in the western part of wet hill regions of Sri Lanka, while race holdsworthi is found in the dry lowlands and eastern hills.

Most scimitar babbler species are referred as parandel kurulla by the Sinhala-speaking community. The term 'parandel' refers to dried grass and probably refers to the color of the bird. The vernacular name of the bird parandel kurulla roughly translates to English as 'dried-grass-colored bird'. This bird appears in a 4.50 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp.

Internet Bird Collection Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Horton Plains National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~60%
2 Sinharaja Forest Reserve 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~40%
3 Yala National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
Insufficient data

Quick answers

What are the chances of seeing a Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler in Sinharaja Forest Reserve?

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler sighting in Sinharaja Forest Reserve, based on 704 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.

When is the best time to see Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler in Sinharaja Forest Reserve?

September has the highest sighting rate for Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler in Sinharaja Forest Reserve in our monthly data.

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