View All News
Delicious Sri Lankan food for lunch
Birdwatching in Bundala National Park
Guesthouse in Sinharaja
For those of you who join our 15 day Sri Lankan Birds & Wildlife Tour in 2026, we will be travelling in a small group with a max 11 guests and 1 NT Bird Specialist tour leader (Luke Paterson), along with a professional Nationally Accredited Naturalist/Bird Guide and driver team in a tourist bus/mini-coach.
The tour includes several private jeep safaris, short walks in varied tropical habitats ranging from wet tropics, savannah grasslands, arid zones, remote villages, montane zones, sandy coastlines and tropical food forests. We practise and encourage a minimal impact style of wildlife ecotourism the whole way.
We stay in a range of hotels and guest houses selected due to their convenient location to birdwatching hotspots in Sri Lanka.
This tour is FULL BOARD (includes all accommodation, meals, park fees, transport/driver and community guide gratuities) plus more. Flights, driver and National Guide gratuities, travel insurance, drinks and alcoholic beverages, extra tours and excursions are excluded.
We are more than happy to recommend suitable flight routes and book your pre and post tour activities in Sri Lanka, Maldives and India.
Tour Extensions include: Whale watching boat cruises (one of the best places to view Blue Whale!, Spinner Dolphins and Sperm Whale, Whale Shark), historic forts, city highlights and the Cultural Triangle and tiger safaris.
See TOUR INCLUSIONS here & contact us for detailed itinerary & trip notes: 15 Day Sri Lankan Birds & Wildlife Tour enquiry
Some of Sri Lanka’s key species include:
Over 440 species birds (with 35 endemics and many migrants):
Sri Lankan Scimitar Babbler, Serendib Scops Owl (only recently been described back in 2004), Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, Sri Lankan Green Pigeon, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Indian Pitta, Sri Lanka Spurfowl, Shikra, Chestnut-backed Owlet, Sri Lankan Hanging Parrot, Sri Lanka, Grey Hornbill, Yellow Bittern, Yellow-eared Bulbul, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Indian Peafowl, Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush, Greater Flamingo, Asian Openbill, Lesser Adjutant Stork, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Lesser Goldenback, White-rumped Shama.
Rare & endemic Serendib Scops Owl
Bird hide in village house Singharaja
Tricky to photograph Sri Lankan Spurfowl
So happy to find Indian Pitta in Sri Lanka
Lesser Adjutant Stork Bundala National Park
Sri Lanka’s smallest KF – Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher
123 species mammal (16 endemic, including 28 cetaceans):
Sri Lankan Leopard, Blue Whale, Sperm Whale, Sloth Bear, Asian Elephant, Stripe-necked Mongoose, Ruddy Mongoose, Loris species, Jackal, Sambar Deer, Chital Deer, Spotted Deer, Purple-faced Langur (endemic), Red-faced Macaques, Tocque Macaque, Giant squirrel, Golden Palm Civet, Wild Boar, Spinner Dolphin.
Wild Sri Lankan Leopard in Wilpattu NP
Sloth Bears in the wild
See Asian Elephants in Yala NP, Sri Lanka
Stripe-naped Mongoose at Horton Plains
Photographing Grey Langur
See mighty Blue Whales on a cruise in Mirissa
Over 200 species reptile:
Water Monitor, Mugger Crocodile, Vine Snake, Rat Snake, Olive Ridley & Loggerhead Turtle, Common Green Forest Lizard, Agama Lizard species.
Over 140 species amphibians and many thousands of insects.
Common Garden Lizards
Ancient cultural sites in Anuradhupura
Sigiriya Rock Fortress in distance
Our safari explores key sites over 2 wildlife-filled weeks:
- Colombo
- Katunayake
- Willpattu National Park (Ramsar site)
- Mannar
- Sigiriya Lion Rock Fortress (World Heritage site)
- Nuwara Eliya
- Yala National Park (Ramsar site)
- Bundala National Park (Ramsar site)
- Tissamaharama
- Horton Plains/World’s End (World Heritage site)
- Sinharaja Forest Reserve (World Heritage site)
Sights and sites including:
Rural and village life, water storage ‘tanks’ reservoirs /wetlands, tea plantations, plantations, spice gardens, Sigiriya ‘Lion Rock’/Fresco paintings, temple ruins, community fishing villages and more.
Fresh treacle from palm trees
Asian water buffalo farmer in Bundala NP
Happiness is farm fresh local vegetables
–
Sri Lankan Conservation stories:
The Team:
Sri Lankan National Guide: We use the best birding guides who have National Guiding accreditations while touring in Sri Lanka.
NT Bird Specialists Tour
Tour Leader Profiles: Owners and Directors of NT Bird Specialists, Darwin, Australia – Luke Paterson Dp. Natural Resource Management (tour leader). Sarah Burgess Bsc. Science & Ecotourism, provides back end and travel planning support throughout.
Learn more about Luke and Sarah on ‘Our Team‘ pages:
On our first tour we sighted all 35 endemic birds of Sri Lanka in 10 days 🙂
Luke & a National Guide appreciating how tropical food forests attract many birds.
We employ professional services from Sri Lankan Park Rangers and trackers.
Recommended field guides for Birds of Sri Lanka:
- ‘Birds of Sri Lanka’ (Helm Field Guides) Deepal Warakagoda; Carol Inskipp; Tim Inskipp; Richard Grimmett and
- ‘A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka’ (Oxford) John Harrison, Illustrations by Tim Worfolk
Read our ‘Sri Lanka Tour Trip Planning Info/FAQs’ page here:
See Sri Lanka Tourism’s official webpage here:
Birding with NT Bird Specialists in Sri Lanka
Our local guides & Luke will guide you through Sri Lanka’s birds & wildlife
Birdwatching to find Sri Lankan Spurfowl