ලංකා අරංගයා Sri Lankan Whistling -Thrush

 Identification

Head and neck is black in color. Shoulder, dorsal area and brest are dark blue. Bright blue shoulder patch can be seen in male. Flight fethers rump,main tail are blackish bround.Beak and feet are black. Iris is broun. Belly is brown Female  is more browner. Her shoulder patch is pale. The plumage of imature bird is more beown with little blue.

Size

Lenth of body = 8.25  inches(20cm)

Lenth of wing = 4.2 -4.4  inches

Lenth of tail   = 3.1-3.5  inches

Lenth of beak= 1.25  inches

 Behavior

This bird is very shy. They prefer thick under groths. Sometimes it comes out. It can be seen hunting or singing on sticks or rocks beside streams. They prey on creatures like insects, geckos.
 The breeding season lies from March to May. But the April is more important. They make the nest on banks or on branchers of  5-10  feet tall tree. The neat is cup shaped.  The “Varalla” and ferns are used as main building materials. Inside the nest is made out of
dead leaves. About two white color eggs with pale and  red brown colored patches and
strips are laied at a time. But most of the time only a one offspring is born. Haching is done by female, but the feeding is done by both male and female.

  Location

They live hidden in place with water flowa at about 3000 frrt elevations. They can be seen in thick under grouths near flowing streams….They are recored in Haggala Horton place. Today they are restricted to the higher elevations of central hills.
This bird is defficult to find due to it’s shyness.

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Threats

Rapid distruction of forest and drying off of water flows are the main threats.

මොනවද මේ Orchid

 Orchid

 The year-round hot and humid climate of southwestern Sri Lanka, makes the ideal climate for growing some varieties of orchids, while the dry and cool climates of the central highlands make other varieties thrive, thus making the whole island, except perhaps the dry north eastern sector, one large nursery for many varieties of this exotic bloom.

Originally started as a hobby by the "idle rich," growing orchids, now is a money making hobby for anybody with a green thumb. As the world demand for exotic flowers gets more intense, Sri Lanka seems to be in an enviable position to supply that demand, and earn foreign exchange too. Shown here are some of the more common varieties of orchid. Since many orchid varieties lack alluring scents to attract life-giving bees and other insects to aid in pollination, they depend on their profusion of colors to lure these insects. Thus, in good nursery one can find orchids of just about any color of the rainbow. 

Disna Nishanthi Mahagamage 

(Young Biologists' Association)