Sri Lanka scimitar babbler

The Sri Lanka scimitar babbler or Ceylon scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus melanurus) is an Old World babbler. It is endemic to the island of Sri Lanka and was formerly treated as a subspecies of Indian scimitar babbler.^[2] The nominate form is found in the western part of wet hill regions of Sri Lanka, while race holdsworthi is found in the dry lowlands and eastern hills.^[3]

Sri Lanka scimitar babbler
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Timaliidae
Genus:	Pomatorhinus
Species:	P. melanurus
Binomial name
Pomatorhinus melanurus Blyth, 1847

In culture

Most scimitar babbler species are referred as parandel kurulla^[4] by the Sinhala-speaking community. The term 'parandel' refers to dried grass and probably refers to the color of the bird. The vernacular name of the bird parandel kurulla roughly translates to English as 'dried-grass-colored bird'. This bird appears in a 4.50 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp.^[5]

Two birds (above) with an ashy-headed laughingthrush