Attidiya Bird Sanctuary Tips: Best Time, What to Carry, Birds to Spot

The best time is a morning between December and March. Winter migrants such as sandpipers, wagtails and shrikes join the resident herons and jacanas, and the trails are at their driest. December and January give the widest mix of species. Within the day, the first two hours of daylight are the busiest for birds, and 4 pm to sunset is the second-best window. Avoid May to June and October to November if you can, because heavy rain can flood the low parts of the trail.

The sanctuary is listed as open from 9 am to 5 pm. Because birds are most active before 9 am, ask the wildlife office on Kahawita Mawatha if you can start earlier on the day you plan to visit. Hours can change on public holidays. Our entry fee and timings page carries the latest listing, and the wildlife office staff can confirm it locally.

No ticket charge is currently listed for Attidiya Bird Sanctuary. Some visitors report being asked for a small fee at the office, so carry a few hundred Sri Lankan rupees in small notes to be safe. A local guide, if you hire one, is paid separately and the rate is agreed directly with them. For the current listing, see our Attidiya entry fee and timings page.

Plan on two to three hours. That gives you time to walk the main trail at a slow birding pace, spend 30 to 45 minutes at the viewing tower and walk back while the butterflies come out. A rushed one-hour walk covers the trail but misses most of the birds, which reveal themselves only when you stand still. Add another hour if you want to visit Bellanwila Raja Maha Vihara next door.

Carry binoculars, a litre of water per person, a first-aid kit, sunscreen, a hat, and mosquito repellent. Wear shoes that grip and can get wet, and switch to gumboots only after heavy rain. Choose green, brown or grey clothes rather than white. A camera with a long lens helps, and a rain jacket or dry bag is worth packing between May and November.

More than 150 bird species have been recorded here. Residents you are likely to see include purple heron, Indian pond heron, pheasant-tailed jacana, purple swamphen, Asian openbill, black-headed ibis, white-throated kingfisher and Brahminy kite. Patient visitors find yellow and cinnamon bitterns in the reeds. From December to March, sandpipers, brown shrikes and blue-tailed bee-eaters arrive as winter migrants. Spot-billed pelicans and cotton pygmy-geese turn up on some days.