Endemic Birds of Sri Lanka
 
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10 cm in length.
Size of Loten's Sunbird-i.e. smaller than the sparrow, but noticeably larger than the Hin Malkurulla, from which it is readily distinguished by its darker green plumage. Sexes are both alike.


 


It is even more sociable than the other birds, forming very large, scattered flocks except in the breeding season, when the birds pair off.Always on the move, it spends its waking hours in an almost caseless search for small caterpillars (the tea tortix, Homona coffearia, being a special favourite), tiny moths, etc., and in visiting nectar-producing blossoms and berry-bearing shrubs. 
 

The breeding season is from March to May. Sometimes they have a second season in August-September. The nest is large and not quite solidly built. It is a neat cup, composed of fine fibers, moss and fluff, slung hammock-wise in a fork of a leafy twig. They lay two eggs that measure about 16.2×11.3mm. The eggs are very pale Prussian blue in color.


 


Forests, gardens, cultivation. Breeding Grounds- Hill country & less common in Low country in Wet Zone foothills.  Common.


Sri Lanka Red-Faced Malkoha
Local Name : Sri Lanka Wataratu Malkoha
 
Scientific Name : Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus (Pennant)

 


 

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Endemic Birds in Sri Lanka