>Kumana bird sanctuary

Kumana National Park in Sri Lanka is renowned for its avifauna, particularly its large flocks of migratory waterfowl and wading birds. The park is 391 kilometres (243 mi) southeast of Colombo on Sri Lanka's southeastern coast. Kumana is contiguous with Yala National Park. Kumana was formerly known as Yala East National Park, but changed to its present name in 5 September 2006. The park was closed from 1985 to March 2003 because of the Sri Lankan Civil War.At the end of the war 2009 Kumana National Park is open for local and forigen visitors.

Kumbukkan Oya forms the southern boundary of the national park. Some 20 lagoons and tanks support the extensive birdlife of the national park. The lagoons are shallow with depths less than 2 metres (6.6 ft). Kumana villu is subject to occasional inundation with seawater. The elevation of the area ranges from sea level to 90 metres (300 ft). The mean annual temperature is 27.30 C (81.14 F) and the area receives 1,300 millimetres (51.18 in) of annual rainfall

Kumana Bird Sanctuary, declared in 1938, is included within the Kumana National Park. Kumana is one of the most important bird nesting and breeding grounds in Sri Lanka. 255 species of birds have been recorded in the national park. During April-July months tens of thousands of birds migrate to the Kumana swamp area annually. Rare species such as Black-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Eurasian Spoonbill, and Great Thick-knee are breeding inhabitants of the Kumana villu. Waders belonging to families Scolopacidae and Charadriidae are among the visitors to the area along with waterfowl. Pintail Snipes migrate here flying 9,000 kilometres (5,600 mi) to 11,000 kilometres (6,800 mi) from Siberia.[4] Asian Openbill, Glossy Ibis, Purple Heron, Great Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret,Spot-billed Pelican, Indian Cormorant, Little Cormorant, Common Moorhen, Watercock, PurpleSwamphen, White-breasted Waterhen, Lesser Whistling Duck and Little Grebe are the bird species migrate here in large flocks. Among the rare birds that migrate to the swap include Yellow-footed Green Pigeon,Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Malabar Trogon, Red-faced Malkoha, and Sirkeer Malkoha. Pacific Golden Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Grey Plover, Ruddy Turnstone,Little Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Common Snipe, and Pintail Snipe are the common wading birds of the park