Is Bundala National Park the best place for bird watching in Sri Lanka.

Hire a specialist birding guide rather than a regular safari driver as they know the specific calls, habitats, and feeding patterns of rare species. Expert guides charge around six thousand rupees per day but dramatically increase your species count. Bring your own binoculars, field guide, and camera with a telephoto lens of at least four hundred millimeters for the best experience.

For the most comprehensive birding trip combine Bundala with visits to Kumana National Park on the east coast, Sinharaja rainforest for endemic forest species, and Horton Plains for hill country endemics like the Sri Lanka whistling thrush. Each location offers completely different habitat types and species making Sri Lanka one of the top birding destinations in all of Asia.