Serendib Scops-Owl

The Serendib scops-owl is the most recently discovered bird of Sri Lanka. Deepal Warakagoda first located it by its unfamiliar poo-ooo call in Kitulgala rainforest, saw it six years later on 23 January 2001 in Sinharaja, and it was formally described as new to science in 2004. It was the first new bird found in Sri Lanka since 1868. Apart from Sinharaja and Kitulgala it has been found at Runakanda Reserve in Morapitiya and Eratna Gilimale (Wikipedia, species account).

It lives in the rainforests of the southwest, is strictly nocturnal, and hunts insects such as beetles and moths close to the ground, starting to call at dusk and again about two hours before dawn. Wikipedia says it seems to be declining through habitat loss and degradation. Nationally Endangered (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).