THE SHAHEEN FALCON – SRI LANKA THROUGH A LENS

de Silva Wijeyeratne, G. (2006). The Shaheen Falcon – Sri Lanka through a Lens. Synergy. June-July 2006. Page 53. Volume 03, Issue 02 . ISSN 1391-9385.
“The Shaheen Falcon is a very scarce breeding resident in Sri Lanka. It is widely, but thinly distributed around Sri Lanka where ever rocky escarpments can be found. The sheer cliff faces provide it with nest sites and give it a high elevation from which it can launch aerial strikes against fast flying birds such as swifts.
“A wonderful but unfortunately brief window of opportunity to observe the nesting of these rare birds occurred in February 2006 near Hunas Falls Hotel in Elkaduwa. The birds, habituated to hill walkers, adopted a nest site 150 meters away from a view point. The nesting was short lived as the first chick which hatched from a clutch of three fell prey to predators and a fire in the grassland interrupted the incubation of the remaining two eggs”.

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