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Sri Lanka is home to 34
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
bird species. The total number of bird species recorded in the island is 492 of which 219 are breeding residents.
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
recognize Sri Lanka as one of the world's
Endemic Bird Area An Endemic Bird Area (EBA) is an area of land identified by BirdLife International as being important for habitat-based bird conservation because it contains the habitats of restricted-range bird species (''see below for definition''), which are the ...
s (EBAs). The number of endemic species has changed many times over the years. This is largely due to " close taxonomic revisions". The number of endemic species has fluctuated from a minimum 20 to a maximum 47. From 1977 the number settled at around 21. The figure was increased to 23 with the addition of two species in 1990. Many authorities have accepted this figure since then. Wijesinghe published ''A checklist of the birds of Sri Lanka'' in 1994 which considered the addition of three more species, but this move did not receive widespread recognition because its rationale was not in keeping with rigorous taxonomic practice. Subsequent publications on the avifauna of Sri Lanka and the South Asia region have not listed these three as endemics. However, within some Sri Lankan circles considered the endemics proposed by Wijesinghe as acceptable. This may be due to an over-enthusiasm in increasing endemic numbers to create a better ornithological image and increase the demand for commercial
birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...
. In 2001, Warakagoda and
Rasmussen The surname Rasmussen () is a Danish and Norwegian surname, meaning '' Rasmus' son''. It is the ninth-most-common surname in Denmark, shared by about 1.9% of the population.Serendib scops-owl ''Otus thilohofmanni''. This is the first new bird species discovered in Sri Lanka since 1868, when the Sri Lanka whistling-thrush (''Myophonus blighi'') was described. There are some proposals for species level taxonomic revisions, and therefore endemic status in Sri Lanka. The country prefix "Sri Lanka" in common names is normally restricted to endemic species. However Kotagama ''et al.'' (2006) disagree with Sibley and Monroe (1990) on the use of "Ceylon" in common species' names, suggesting instead that they should reflect the change of the official English name of the island from Ceylon to name Sri Lanka. Sibley and Monroe's rationale was "Ceylon" is the geographical unit and "
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
" is the country which occupies the island. The geographical name is normally used for animal ranges, for example
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
is used rather than its nation, the Malagasy Republic."


Change in number of endemics

Source: Kotagama ''et al.'', 2013


Endemic species

Species which are validly published are considered as definitive endemic species. Others are included with question marks. Source: Kotagama, 2013


Proposed endemics

Rasmussen and Anderton (2005) proposed a number of species splits. Those that would create new endemic species for Sri Lanka are listed below along with their present taxon. Source: Kaluthota and Kotagama, 2009


References


Literature cited

* {{Fauna of Sri Lanka 02 .Birds Birds, endemic Birds, endemic
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...