A group of researchers from the University of Colombo has identified a new bird species endemic to Sri Lanka and islands in the Palk Strait.
The bird has been named in Sinhala as Hanuman Oleviya and Hanuman Plover in English.
The discovery was made by a new bird researcher Jude Janith Niroshan under the supervision of senior bird researcher Dr. Sampath Seneviratne of the Botanical Science Department of the University.
The research paper with regard to the findings was yet to be released. The bird’s scientific name would most probably be Charadrius Seebohmi.
This bird has been wrongly known as a sub-species of Kentish Plover, migratory bird visiting Sri Lanka annually from the Northern hemisphere. However, the researchers have been able to establish that the bird is not migratory but endemic to Sri Lanka.
Action would be taken to request the removal of the bird from the sub-species category and naming it as new species living in Sri Lanka and the sand dunes of Palk Strait up to South India. It would be named as Hanuman Oleviya, Dr Seneviratne said.
