Anawilundawa Bird Sanctuary

The Anawilundawa Bird Sanctuary is situated in the Puttalam district in the North Western province of the country, between Chilaw and Puttalam; to be more specific, it is situated between the coast and the Chilaw-Puttalam railway line.

Three very different ecosystems meet at Anawilundawa: the coast, the mangroves, and the freshwater tanks. That combination is why the site was listed under the RAMSAR convention, one of six such wetlands in Sri Lanka, and why hundreds of bird species nest and breed here.

The tanks are a cascading system built by hand, each between 12 and 50 hectares and around 200 ha in total. They date to the 12th century and the reign of King Parakramabahu, and they still do the job they were built for: feeding the paddy fields below them and the islets of natural vegetation in between.

There are six large tanks — Pinkattiya, Maradansola, Anawilundawa, Mayyawa, Surawila, and Vellawali — and three peripheral ones that together form a single irrigation system. Threatened fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals all live in it, including at least three freshwater fish found nowhere else. The water is only 3–4 metres deep, which is what keeps it productive: enough plankton to feed the resident fish and the migratory ones moving through, and enough fish to make it a serious stopover for migrating birds.

Birds You Can See at Anawilundawa

The most common birds found in Anawilundawa are the Common Moorhen, Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Lesser Whistling Teal, Stork-Billed, Common, Pied and White-Breasted Kingfishers, Openbill, Purple Coot, Black-Backed Yellow Woodpecker, Garganey, White-Bellied Sea Eagle, Grey-Headed Fish Eagle, Cotton Teal, Indian Shag, Spoonbill, Large, Median and Little Egrets, Black-Winged Stilt, and Brown Fish Owl.

Anawilundawa also holds a large breeding colony of herons, along with Open-bill, Great Cormorant, White Ibis, Stork, Pheasant-tailed Jacana and Purple Swamp Hen. The counts on record are 131 species of water birds, 74 of butterflies, 30 of reptiles, and 20 each of mammals and amphibians. The mammals include the Rusty-spotted cat, Fishing cat, Indian otter, Slender loris and Toque monkey. Most endemic and resident birds are here year-round; migrants are best seen between October and April.

How to Get from Kalpitiya to Anawilundawa Bird Sanctuary

Anawilundawa Bird Sanctuary is 75 km away from Valampuri Resort. You can get there by bus or by private vehicle. You can jump on any bus going to Palavia junction or any bus going in the direction of Colombo. After passing Battuluoya railway station, you will see a large factory on your left-hand side. Tell the bus conductor to stop at the next town, Anawilundawa. The bird sanctuary is 3 km from the town.