Sinharaja Rain Forest World Heritage Site

Sinharaja is a forest in south-west wet zone of Sri Lanka which contians a high Bio diversity. A large proportion of flora and fauna in this forest is endemic to the country and some endemic to the Singharaja Forest itself. This is a very good place to see many endemic birds such as Ceylon Lorikeet, Layard's parakeet, Jungle and Spur Fowl, Ceylon Wood Pigeon, Grey Hombill, Spotted wing Thrush, Rufous and Brown- capped Babbler, Ashy-headed Laughing Thrush, Ceylon Blue Magpie, White Headed Starling, Ceylon Hill Mynha, Legge's Flowerpecker. The clear cut roads in to the jungle provide easy access to the forest. This important forest is a Man and Biosphere Forest reserve and it is considered as a World Heritage Site.

An interesting phenomenon is that birds tend to move inMixed feeding flocks, invariably led by the fearless Grate Racket-tailed Drongoand the noisy Orange-billed Babbler. Of Sri Lanka's 26 endemic birds (suranganet), the 20 rainforest species all occur here, including the elusive Red faced Malkoha, Green-billed Coucal and Sri lanka Blue Magpie.
Reptiles include the endemic Green pit Viper and Hump-nosed Vipers, and there are a large variety of amphibians, especially tree frogs. Invertebrates include the endemic Common Birdwing Butterfly and the invitable leeches.

Red faced Mal Koha& Common Birdswing Butterfly