Deepal Warakagoda
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Deepal Warakagoda | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965, Dominion of Ceylon |
| Organization(s) | Sri Lanka Nature Sounds , Bird and Wildlife Team , Ceylon Bird Club |
| Known for | Discovery of Serendib Scops Owl (in 2001), Knowledge of country's bird fauna, Expertise in bird and wildlife tour leading, Sri Lanka Nature Sounds playlist |
| Notable work | Helm Filed Guides: Birds of Sri Lanka (2012) , Helm Wildlife Guides: Birds of Sri Lanka (2022) , Birds of Sri Lanka - Sounds & Images , Birds of Sri Lanka - Habitat Edition 2017 |
Deepal Warakagoda is a prominent Sri Lankan ornithologist. His early working career was in electronics, but since his childhood he has studied the island's bird fauna and for many years he has been working as a professional guide for birding and wildlife tours of the island. He is mostly known for his records as one of the few ornithologist who has seen the greatest amount of species in Sri Lanka. Deepal Warakagoda is also one of the major roles of the Ceylon Birds Club . He works with great passion to educate on birdlife in Sri Lanka and its rich diversity of fauna in soundscapes of natural habitats, and their conservation , and has his own career experience for over 30 years .
He discovered a new species of bird endemic to Sri Lanka, the Serendib Scops owl.[1][2][3][4][5] His expertise in vocalizations had enabled him to realize that an owl he heard calling near Kitulgala rain forest was an unknown species, and he later saw this bird in January 2001 in the Sinharaja rain forest[6] with assistance of a few. He surrounded the bird's habitat and took photographs while it was roosting under a thick bush. This new-found species of scops owl is now on the IUCN Red List.[7] He has also identified (each for the first time) 15 new migrant species of birds in Sri Lanka, and has published a large number of articles on the avifauna of Sri Lanka.
