Deepal Warakagoda

Last updated
Deepal Warakagoda
Born1965(53 years), Sri Lanka
Organization(s)Ceylon birds club,Birds and wildlife team, Sri Lanka Nature Sounds
Known for Serendib scops owl, Drongo nature sounds playlist
Notable workA guide to the birds of Sri Lanka

Deepal Warakagoda (born 1965) is a prominent Sri Lankan ornithologist. His early working career was in electronics, but for many years he has studied birds and also works as a professional guide for birding tours of the island. He is mostly known for his records as the ornithologist who has seen the greatest amount of species in Sri Lanka. Deepal Warakagoda is also one of the major roles of the Ceylon birds club. [1] He works hard to conserve natural sights and fauna in Sri Lanka and has his own career experience for over 25 years.

Contents

Discoveries

He discovered a new species of bird endemic to Sri Lanka, the Serendib Scops owl. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] His expertise in vocalizations had enabled him to realize that an owl he heard calling near Kitulgala rain forest was an unknown species, and he later saw this bird in January 2001 in the Sinharaja rain forest [7] with assistance of a few. He surrounded the bird's habitat and took photographs while it was roosting under a thick bush. This new-found species of scops owl is now on the IUCN Red List. [8] He has also identified (each for the first time) 15 new migrant species of birds in Sri Lanka, and has published a large number of articles on the avifauna of Sri Lanka.

Creations and experiences

Warakagoda is Sri Lanka's foremost sound recordist in natural history subjects, and has produced and published the only comprehensive audio guide to the island's birds (on tape and CD). He has an unmatched knowledge of Sri Lanka's bird songs and calls. His recordings of the island's distinct bird species have played a major role in the recognition of several of them as endemic to Sri Lanka in the book Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide (2005) by Pamela C. Rasmussen and John C. Anderton.

Although best known for his knowledge of the avifauna of Sri Lanka, and expertise in finding and identifying birds, his knowledge extends to the island's mammals and butterflies.

Warakagoda founded the Drongo Nature Sounds Library, [9] [10] [11] the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka, and is joint secretary of the Ceylon Bird Club. He is a national coordinator in Sri Lanka for the Asian Waterbird Census. He is a founder of Bird and Wildlife Team [12] (www.birdandwildlifeteam.com), a company specializing in natural history tours of Sri Lanka and India, and works as one of its tour leaders. He is also a leading tour guide of the organization 'Wings birds' [13]

He is currently working on several new publications in the print and audio/video media, for the betterment of the future of bird watching in Sri Lanka.

Publications

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka blue magpie</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitulgala</span> Place in Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collared scops owl</span> Species of owl

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scops owl</span> Genus of birds

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown boobook</span> Species of owl

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian scops owl</span> Species of owl

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine scops owl</span> Species of owl

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serendib scops owl</span> Species of owl

The Serendib scops owl is the most recently discovered bird of Sri Lanka. It was originally located by its unfamiliar poo-ooo call in the Kitulgala rainforest by prominent Sri Lankan ornithologist Deepal Warakagoda. Six years later, it was finally seen by him on 23 January 2001 in Sinharaja, and formally described as a species new to science in 2004. Apart from Sinharaja and Kitulgala, it has also been found at Runakanda Reserve in Morapitiya and Eratna Gilimale. It is known as පඩුවන් බස්සා in Sinhala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela C. Rasmussen</span> American ornithologist

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy scops owl</span> Species of owl

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain scops owl</span> Species of owl

The mountain scops owl, sometimes referred to as the spotted scops owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is locally common in its main habitat which covers some parts of Asia, including Bangladesh Bhutan, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Taiwan, and Thailand. It has a short high-pitched call. Their call sounds like a two-note whistle, "plew-plew" or "he-he", although the female's songs are rarely heard. Their calls can also vary between different populations allowing one to determine a bird's origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palawan scops owl</span> Species of owl

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">São Tomé scops owl</span> Species of owl

The São Tomé scops owl is a species of owl in the true owl family, Strigidae. It is endemic to São Tomé Island, part of São Tomé and Príncipe, in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa.

Protected areas of Sri Lanka are administrated by Department of Forest Conservation and Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka.There are 501 protected areas in Sri Lanka. The protected areas that fall under supervision of the Department of Forest Conservation include forests defined in National Heritage Wilderness Area Act in 1988, forest reservations, and forests managed for sustainability. Sinharaja Forest Reserve is an example for a National Heritage forest. There are 32 forests categorized as conservation forests including Knuckles Mountain Range. Strict nature reserves, national parks, nature reserves, forest corridors, and sanctuaries recognized under the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance are managed by Department of Wildlife Conservation. Total of all protected areas is 1,767,000 ha. Protected areas in Sri Lanka account for 26.5 percent of the total area. This is a higher percentage of protected areas than in all of Asia and much of the World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rinjani scops owl</span> Species of owl

The Rinjani scops owl is a species of scops owl found only on Lombok in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia and its neighbouring Gili Islands. The only bird species endemic to the island, it was first recognized as a separate species in September 2003 and was formally described in 2013.

References

  1. ↑ "Ceylon Bird Club, Birds of Sri Lanka, sri lankan birds, endemic birds of sri lanka". www.ceylonbirdclub.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  2. ↑ "Oriental Bird Club | Working to conserve Asia's birds". orientalbirdclub.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  3. ↑ "Serendib Scops Owl". Flickr. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  4. ↑ "Serendib Scops-owl (Otus thilohoffmanni) All newly discovered bird species during the 21st century". www.avibirds.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  5. ↑ "Serendib Scops-owl (Otus thilohoffmanni)". www.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  6. ↑ Serendib Scops Owl Call, 2016-03-09, retrieved 2018-09-13[ dead YouTube link ]
  7. ↑ Warakagoda, D. H. & Rasmussen, P. C. (1998) "A new species of scops owl from Sri Lanka Archived 2011-09-10 at the Wayback Machine ". Bull. Brit. Orn. Club124: 85–105
  8. ↑ "Otus thilohoffmanni (Serendib Scops-owl, Serendib Scops Owl)". www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  9. ↑ "Sri Lanka Nature Sounds | Deepal Warakagoda". www.srilankanaturesounds.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  10. ↑ "Birds of Sri Lanka - MP3 Sound and Image Collection". www.nhbs.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  11. ↑ "Plus". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  12. ↑ "Our Team - Bird and Wildlife Team (Pvt) Ltd - The Best Birding and Wildlife Watching Tours in Sri lanka, and Tours in India". Bird and Wildlife Team (Pvt) Ltd - The Best Birding and Wildlife Watching Tours in Sri lanka, and Tours in India. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  13. ↑ "WINGS Birding Tours: Tour Leaders – Deepal Warakagoda". Wings. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  14. ↑ Birds of Sri Lanka. Warakagoda, Deepal., Allen, Richard, 1964-. London: Christopher Helm. 2012. ISBN   9780713688535. OCLC   779582324.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  15. ↑ "Birds of Sri Lanka". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  16. ↑ Henry, G. M. (1998). A guide to the birds of Sri Lanka. Henry, G. M. (George Morrison), 1891- (3rd ed.). Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN   0195638131. OCLC   39774646.
  17. ↑ de Silva Wijeyeratne, Gehan; Warakagoda, Deepal; De Zylva, T. S. U. (2000). A photographic guide to birds of Sri Lanka. London: New Holland. ISBN   1859745113. OCLC   44932675.
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