John Harrison (10) (1931–)

Basics: 1999, softcover, 219 pages, 48 color plates of 426 species, range maps

Of the few field guides that cover only Sri Lanka, this is easily the best one for several reasons. One, it’s the only Sri Lanka guide to illustrate all the birds of the island, versus just the resident birds. Two, the artistry in the plates is very good and many more plumages are displayed. And, three, the text contains more information for identification and offers tips to distinguish between similar species.

Each plate contains between 4 and 15 different species. Most plates contain about 10. On each plate are anywhere between 15 and 40 different illustrations. As an extreme, the plate for the harriers contains only 4 species but over 40 different illustrations, which makes the images slightly small and for a busy page. This scenario is true for most of the raptors, gulls, terns, and shorebirds. However, I’ll take this slightly crammed plate with all the many plumages over a more limited selection of views.

Across from each plate are brief notes (1-4 lines) on the identification of the bird. A small range map of Sri Lanka is also supplied. Due to the small size of the island and the limited habitat, the ranges are generalized and look much the same between all the birds. These are only somewhat useful.

The final 2/3 of the book contains the species accounts. The bulk of information revolves around identification of the bird and comparisons to similar species. This information is fairly detailed and offers good notes to identify the bird. Other brief information is given for the voice, status/distribution, habitat, and range.

Any birding done in Sri Lanka should be done with this book in your hand. It is both a good book and, the best one available for just this area. A few other all-India books would also work, but they would be overkill for the smaller island.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka by Kotagama/ Fernando
2) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Sri Lanka by Wijeyeratne et al.
3) A Guide to the Birds of Ceylon by Henry
4) A History of the Birds of Ceylon by Legge
5) A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives by Grimmett/Inskipp
6) Birds of India by Grimmett
7) Birds of Southern India by Grimmett/Inskipp
8) A Field Guide to Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak
9) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal et al.… (mais)