Dendrelaphis schokari
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Dendrelaphis schokari, also known as the common bronze-back or Schokar's bronzeback (Sinhala: තරු/මූකලන් හාල්දන්ඩා, Tharu/Mookalan Haaldanda in Sinhala), is a species of non-venomous arboreal snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Sri Lanka.
Dendrelaphis schokari belongs to the genus Dendrelaphis, which contains 48 other described species. Dendrelaphis is one of five genera belonging to the vine snake subfamily Ahaetuliinae, of which Dendrelaphis is most closely related to Chrysopelea, as shown in the cladogram below:
Dendrelaphis schokari inhabits forests and open areas of all climatic zones of the island of Sri Lanka, from lowlands to about 750 m (2,460 ft) above sea level. It is diurnal, and though a tree snake, it is observed foraging on land as well.
Its prey consists of frogs, lizards, geckos, skinks, insects and also eggs of small birds. It can make long jumps among trees if necessary while chasing its prey. It can be distinguished easily from other Dendrelaphis species by having a cream-colored spotted line on its olive green dorsum (back) from neck to mid fore body along the spine. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Schokar's bronzeback sighting in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 13th most-seen of the 32 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Schokar's bronzeback in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September–October, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Schokar's bronzeback sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Sinharaja Forest Reserve, in our data
Sinharaja Forest Reserve is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Schokar's bronzeback sightings: about 30% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Schokar's bronzeback is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (21 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.
