Pomatorhinus melanurus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The Sri Lanka scimitar babbler or Ceylon scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus melanurus) is an Old World babbler. It is endemic to the island of Sri Lanka and was formerly treated as a subspecies of Indian scimitar babbler. The nominate form is found in the western part of wet hill regions of Sri Lanka, while race holdsworthi is found in the dry lowlands and eastern hills.
Most scimitar babbler species are referred as parandel kurulla by the Sinhala-speaking community. The term 'parandel' refers to dried grass and probably refers to the color of the bird. The vernacular name of the bird parandel kurulla roughly translates to English as 'dried-grass-colored bird'. This bird appears in a 4.50 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp.
Internet Bird Collection Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler sighting in Horton Plains National Park on a given day, based on 326 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, May and October
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler in Horton Plains National Park on a given day, against about 30% in June, the lowest month.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler sightings, Horton Plains National Park has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Horton Plains National Park (326 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
