Bird taxonomy in this region has undergone considerable change. Mainly responsible for this is the recently published’ Birds of South Asia, The Ripley Guide’. Vols. 1 and 2. published by Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions, Washington, D.C. and Barcelona by Rasmussen, P.C. & Anderton, J.C. (2005). According to this long awaited publication, several sub-species have been elevated to full species level. Recent discovery of Serendib Scops Owl an endemic bird species new to science (Warakogoda and Rasmussen, 2004) and elevation of several subspecies to full species level have pushed the number of endemics to 33 making this island nation a top global birding hotspot. This number is likely to see further increase following publication of several pending work.

Where vernacular and scientific names have been changed following taxonomic revisions in Rasmussen and Anderton (2005), I have accepted it and adopted these changes in my literature. Therefore I have used Eastern Cattle Egret Bubulcus coromandus for Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis. Where country name appears in bird names I use Sri Lanka, which is the present geo-political name (since 1972) which is also followed in the widely accepted ‘An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of the Oriental Region’ by Inskipp, T., Lindsey, N., and Duckworth, W. (1996) published by Oriental Bird Club (OBC), Sandy, UK. Therefore I have retained Sri Lanka Spurfowl in place of Ceylon Spurfowl as referred in Rasmussen and Anderton (2005).

Where scientific name has been subjected to change in Rasmussen and Anderton (2005) due to various valid reasons, which do not result in the elevation of species to a new one, I have used the revised scientific name but retained the vernacular name as per Inskipp et al (1996). Thus I have adopted Eumyias sordidus for Eumyias sordida but retained Dull Blue Flycatcher as per Inskipp et al. (1996) instead of Dusky Blue Flycatcher in Rasmussen and Anderton (2005). In all other cases where vernacular names have been changed in Rasmussen and Anderton (2005), I have retained the already established names of Inskipp et al. (1996). Thus I have retained Pied Cuckoo in place of Jacobin Cuckoo.

Amila Salgado.
2006.