WONDERS OF AN ISLAND....... MY BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY SRI LANKA

Sri lanka is a wondrous place, gifted by its enchanting natural wonders. It is a paradise for all living creatures. The beautiful virgin rainforests in the low country wet zone, the cool breeze and the moss filled tress in the hills, the dry and dusty shrubs and the tall elephant grass in the dry zone is only some of its plentiful natural habitats. In these you find many plants and animals adding more color to its beauty.

 Sri lanka is gifted with many animal species and the avian counterparts in particular get more attention for their beauty and song. The birds are the most numerous and easily observed group of animals. You will find them anywhere ranging from your home garden to the thickets of the jungles. Srilanka has 233 resident birds and out of them 24 are endemic. Nine species of birds have been proposed as endemics but much controversy is taking place between ornithologists about the topic. Still as we can see Srilanka has the highest endemism out of the south Asian countries.

The endemic birds are mostly found in the wet zone and the hill thought some can be found throughout the country [ex: - the Srilanka jungle fowl]. Some of them are very rare and have been categorized as endangered. As an example the Srilanka whistling thrush and the recently identified Srilanka serendib scops owl are put in this category.     

The migrants adding up to a hundred or more and diversify the whole of avifauna in the island. They arrive at the end of August and spend around six months and then leave for their home lands in mid March and April. These winter visitors to the country enter the island and fly along the cost and then move inland following the rivers where they will join the local birds.

Most of our fauna and flora have been threatened by human activity. And in particular birds have been affected by habitat loss and urbanization. Human activities such as deforestation, pollution and filling of swamps have contributed a lot to habitat loss. With this kind of destructive activity a rapid decrease in bird numbers can be observed.

Singharaja forest, the only place with the highest number of endemic plants and animals is also threatened of deforestation and pollution. Logging of trees and pollution has affected some of the most important nuclear species of birds and animals in the forest which will eventually demolish the delicate balance of the ecosystem. Most ecologists find birds as important indicators to measure the damage and its intensity done to our natural habitats. Birds will always tell us when an ecosystem has lost its stability.

Considering all the facts and information available we can see the time has come to join hand in hand to protect this beautiful land and its true owners and to see them running and flying in freedom . To see them add color and song to our own world, to our children's world, to see people appreciating the gift given to us by Mother Nature. Because if we don't protect them, we will never be able to protect our self's in return