A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE DIVERSITY OF BIRDS IN THREE RESERVOIRS IN VAVUNIYA, SRI LANKA

摘要

Despite its small size (65,610 km~2) and high human population density (290 people/km~2), Sri Lanka supports a rich and diverse avifauna. Of the 426 species and subspecies that Harrison & Worfolk (1999) have recorded from Sri Lanka, 216 (or 50.7%) are residents, 123 (or 28.9%) are regular winter visitors, and 87 (or 20.47%) are vagrants. They also recognize 23 species as being endemic to the island, although according to Wijeyeratne et al. (2000) the number of endemic species could be as high as 26. The remarkable diversity of birds in Sri Lanka is a reflection of the variety of habitats and climatic conditions available to both resident and migrant species. On the basis of climate and rainfall, Sri Lanka can be broadly divided into the following three main zones: a) low country dry zone; b) low country wet zone; and c) hill zone.