- An Asian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) with distinctive markings on its head that has returned to the same home garden in Colombo for four consecutive migratory seasons has sparked interest among bird enthusiasts in Sri Lanka.
- Many birds, especially migratory species, possess a remarkable ability to return to the same location year after year, sometimes to the exact tree or nest, which is a behavior known as site tenacity or site fidelity.
- World Migratory Bird Day is traditionally observed on the first Saturdays of May and October, aligning with bird migrations in the northern and southern hemispheres respectively.
- A online bird observation platform, eBird, is gaining popularity in Sri Lanka with over 4,000 birders listed with the platform, strengthening the role of citizen science in tracking bird movements.
COLOMBO — As October drew to a close last year, ardent birdwatcher Moditha Kodikarachchi eagerly awaited a special guest in his garden — a migratory Asian paradise flycatcher. Since 2021, the same male flycatcher, identified by three distinct white dots on its black head, has returned to the garden each year, making 2024 its fourth consecutive visit.
“The bird first appeared on Nov. 2 in 2023 and returned on the Nov. 1, 2024 — almost the same date, sticking to the same schedule,” Moditha told Mongabay, expressing his joy in welcoming back his feathered friend, now affectionately named Barat, ancient India’s Sanskrit name, where the species migrates to Sri Lanka from.
The Asian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is a visually stunning bird found in almost all of South Asia and parts of Southeast Asia. Two subspecies are found in Sri Lanka: the Indian subspecies T. p. paradisi, in which adult males are white (juveniles are rufous and subsequently take a white hue) sporting long, flowing tail feathers while the females are always rufous with shorter tails; and the T. p. ceylonensis subspecies, which is rufous in color and breeds in Sri Lanka.
Barat belongs to the migratory Indian subspecies and displays a striking white plumage characteristic of a mature male. However, when Moditha first spotted the bird in 2021, it had a mix of white and rufous feathers, indicating it was still a juvenile then.
Site fidelity
By the 2022 visit, Barat had fully matured into an elegant white form. When Moditha saw that, remarkably, the bird followed the same movement patterns as the previous year’s visitor, hopping between the same trees in the same order, he suspected it was the same individual. Moditha confirmed this by observing three distinct dots on the bird’s black head, a unique marking that helped him positively identify it during subsequent sightings.
According to Sarath Kotagama, senior ornithologist and former chair of BirdLife Asia, this phenomenon of birds returning to the same spot is known as site fidelity or site tenacity, where migratory birds return to the same locations — sometimes even the same tree or nest — every year. Kotagama’s own research in Sinharaja Forest Reserve during the 1980s confirmed this behavior in brown flycatchers (Muscicapa mutti), which were ringed and tracked over multiple years.
Bird migration has long fascinated humans. Ancient civilizations believed in myths, such as birds traveling to the moon to hibernate during the winters. Even Aristotle once theorized that swallows buried themselves in mud to survive winters. Since, science has uncovered that migration is driven by instinct, environmental cues, and celestial navigation, said Kotagama. It is believed that the birds use the sun, stars, Earth’s magnetic field, and even scent to guide their long journeys, he said.
Tech use in tracking
Technological tools like GPS tracking have revealed that species such as Heuglin’s gulls (Larus fuscus heuglini) migrate over 7,000 km (4,350 miles) to Sri Lanka from their Arctic breeding grounds, and brown-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus) soar across the Himalayas — the world’s highest mountain ranges — during their annual migration.
Birds like Barat can ignite curiosity and deepen our connection with nature. Environmental lawyer and ardent birder Jagath Gunawardana, who also documents bird migrations from his garden in suburban Colombo, notes the birds’ arrival and departure dates, building a valuable dataset that reflects seasonal patterns. “Migrants have power to bring nature closer to the general public, especially the younger generation,” Gunawardana told Mongabay.
“Bird spotting” — the practice of regularly observing birds from a fixed location is — has becoming a popular hobby among Sri Lanka’s younger birding community. Instead of handwritten notes in field note books, many now use eBird, a global online bird database by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. eBird allows users to submit sightings with details like species, numbers, location and date. Over 4,000 Sri Lankan birders have joined eBird, submitting nearly 120,000 checklists and recording 459 species to date — almost the complete avifauna of the island.
Increasing threats
Moditha is among the top contributors of Sri Lanka’s eBird community, maintaining a daily streak of more than 1,500 days (more than four years) of uninterrupted recordings. While he occasionally visits birding hotspots, most of his observations are made from his home garden. “Many overlook home gardens as birding sites, but Barat proves the value of home garden observations” he said. Last year, Moditha also observed a short-eared owl (Asio flammeus), a very rare migrant, proving it is more than casual birding.
However, migratory birds like Barat face growing threats — from habitat loss, climate change and light pollution to collisions with buildings, hunting and environmental pollution. To raise awareness about the dangers migratory birds face, the United Nations declared the second Saturday of every May the World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) in 2006. However, since the month of May is off-season for migratory birds in parts of the world, the second Saturday of Octobers, too, was subsequently declared WMBD. It promotes conservation, public engagement and international collaboration.
This year’s first observance of WMBD fell on May 10, and has the theme “Shared Spaces: Creating Bird-friendly Cities and Communities.” The message is timely, as urban wetlands and gardens — like those of Moditha and Gunawardane — continue to serve as critical resting grounds for migratory birds, proving that even the busiest cities can serve as a sanctuary to nature’s seasonal travelers.
Banner image: Barat, the flycatcher with a special marking on its head, photographed during the 2023 and 2024 migratory seasons. Image courtesy of Moditha Kodikara Arachchi.
