Deepal Warakagoda

Last updated
Deepal Warakagoda
Born1965, Dominion of Ceylon
Organization(s)Sri Lanka Nature Sounds , Bird and Wildlife Team , Ceylon Bird Club
Known forDiscovery of Serendib Scops Owl (in 2001), Knowledge of country's bird fauna, Expertise in bird and wildlife tour leading, Sri Lanka Nature Sounds playlist
Notable workHelm Filed Guides: Birds of Sri Lanka (2012) , Helm Wildlife Guides: Birds of Sri Lanka (2022) , Birds of Sri Lanka - Sounds & Images , Birds of Sri Lanka - Habitat Edition 2017

Deepal Warakagoda is a prominent Sri Lankan ornithologist. His early working career was in electronics, but since his childhood he has studied the island's bird fauna and for many years he has been working as a professional guide for birding and wildlife tours of the island. He is mostly known for his records as one of the few 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 . He works with great passion to educate on birdlife in Sri Lanka and its rich diversity of fauna in soundscapes of natural habitats, and their conservation , and has his own career experience for over 30 years .

Contents

Discoveries

He discovered a new species of bird endemic to Sri Lanka, the Serendib Scops owl. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] 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 [6] 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. [7] 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 audio 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 keen interest extends to the island's other wildlife too.

Warakagoda founded the Drongo Nature Sounds Library in 1997, [8] [9] [10] the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka, which now holds the largest collection of audio recordings of individual species of fauna and soundscapes of natural habitats of the country. He was joint secretary of the Ceylon Bird Club, and is a national coordinator in Sri Lanka for the Asian Waterbird Census. He is a founder of Bird and Wildlife Team [11] , a company specializing in natural history tours of Sri Lanka and India, and works as one of its senior tour leaders. He is also a leading tour guide of the organization 'Wings birds' [12]

He is currently working on several new publications in the print and audio/video media, for the betterment of education of the country's bird fauna and bird watching in the nature-based tourism industry in Sri Lanka.

Publications

Related Research Articles

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

Kitulgala is a small town in the west of Sri Lanka. The Academy Award-winning The Bridge on the River Kwai was filmed on the Kelani River near Kitulgala, although nothing remains now except the concrete foundations for the bridge. Kitulgala is also a base for white-water rafting, which starts a few kilometres upstream and also popular as a location for adventure based training programs.

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

The collared scops owl is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from northern Pakistan, northern India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Himalayas east to southern China, and Taiwan. It is partially migratory, with some birds wintering in India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. This species was formerly considered to be included within what is now separated as the Indian scops owl.

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

Scops owls are typical owls in family Strigidae belonging to the genus Otus and are restricted to the Old World. Otus is the largest genus of owls with 59 species. Scops owls are colored in various brownish hues, sometimes with a lighter underside and/or face, which helps to camouflage them against the bark of trees. Some are polymorphic, occurring in a greyish- and a reddish-brown morph. They are small and agile, with both sexes being compact in size and shape. Female scops owls are usually larger than males.

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

The brown boobook, also known as the brown hawk-owl, is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal east to western Indonesia and south China.

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

The Indian scops owl is a species of owl native to South Asia.

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

The Japanese scops-owl is a small owl species in the family Strigidae, or true owl family. It is a member of the genus Otus, the scops owl genus. It is resident to Japan, China, Korea, and Russia.

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

The Philippine scops owl, also Luzon lowland scops owl is a common owl, endemic to the Philippines, belonging to the family of the typical owls Strigidae. Other common names include "Otus Whitehead", "Whitehead scops owl" and "Luzon lowland scops owl". Everett's scops owl and Negros scops owls were formerly considered conspecific but are now classified as separate species.

<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">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, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Taiwan, and Thailand. It is an altitudinal migrant. 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">Sunda scops owl</span> Species of owl

The Sunda scops owl is a small brown owl native to the Sunda Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallace's scops owl</span> Species of bird endemic to Indonesia

Wallace's scops owl or lesser Sunda scops owl is endemic to the Sumbawa and Flores islands, in the Lesser Sundas chain of Indonesia. It is not rare in most of its habitat and has no subspecies except for the nominate. It is also known as the Lesser Sunda scops owl. It is named after Alfred Russel Wallace, a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, and biologist.

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

The Palawan scops owl is an owl endemic to the Philippines only being found on the island of Palawan. It is found on tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.

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

The Luzon scops owl or the Luzon highland scops owl is a species of scops owl endemic to Luzon, Philippines. Not to be confused with the Philippine scops owl, sometimes referred to as the Luzon lowland scops owl, which is a more common species that shares the same range. The Luzon scops owl, however, is smaller and inhabits higher altitudes than its lowland relative.

The Sangihe scops owl is an owl species endemic to the Sangihe Island of Indonesia.

<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.

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

The Mayotte scops owl is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the island of Mayotte in the Comoros.

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. ↑ "Oriental Bird Club | Working to conserve Asia's birds". orientalbirdclub.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  2. ↑ "Serendib Scops Owl". Flickr. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  3. ↑ "Serendib Scops-owl (Otus thilohoffmanni) All newly discovered bird species during the 21st century". www.avibirds.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  4. ↑ "Serendib Scops-owl (Otus thilohoffmanni)". www.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  5. ↑ Serendib Scops Owl Call, 2016-03-09, retrieved 2018-09-13[ dead YouTube link ]
  6. ↑ 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
  7. ↑ "Otus thilohoffmanni (Serendib Scops-owl, Serendib Scops Owl)". www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  8. ↑ "Sri Lanka Nature Sounds | Deepal Warakagoda". www.srilankanaturesounds.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  9. ↑ "Birds of Sri Lanka - MP3 Sound and Image Collection". www.nhbs.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  10. ↑ "Plus". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "WINGS Birding Tours: Tour Leaders – Deepal Warakagoda". Wings. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  13. ↑ Birds of Sri Lanka. Warakagoda, Deepal., Allen, Richard, 1964-. London: Christopher Helm. 2012. ISBN   9780713688535. OCLC   779582324.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. ↑ "Birds of Sri Lanka". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ 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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