Vanishing Voices in the Mist:

How Tea Country's Birds Are Losing Their Sky

- BY IFHAM NIZAM

High above sea level, where Sri Lanka's tea country meets the clouds, the Central Highlands once echoed with the calls of endemic birds. These mist-clad slopes were more than a landscape; they were a living sanctuary, revered by ancient communities who believed the forests were sacred protectors of water and life.

Today, the picture is starkly different. The calls of the Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush grow quieter, and sightings of the Kashmir Flycatcher, a jewel-toned migrant, are now rare. "People see green hillsides covered in tea and think they are pristine," says Rajika Gamage, Conservation Biologist at the Tea Research Institute (TRI) in Talawakelle. He told The Sunday Island: "But ecologically, these are disturbed environments, and bird diversity is collapsing."

A Landscape Transformed

The Central Highlands were once blanketed in dense montane forests, alive with species found nowhere else in the world. Colonial expansion in the 19th century changed this forever. Forested slopes were cleared for coffee plantations, and when coffee blight struck, tea took its place. Over time, this mosaic of plantations replaced much of the original forest.

Yet birds, remarkably, adapted. Shade trees, open glades, and remnants of native forests allowed species like the Sri Lanka White-eye, Pied Bushchat, and Yellow-eared Bulbul to survive. Surveys conducted near Shanthakum and Mattakelle tea estates recorded over 80 bird species, a testament to the resilience of nature. That fragile coexistence is now unraveling.

The Silent Invasion

Introduced trees such as Eucalyptus grandis (Rose Gum), Toona sinensis (Toona), and the Ice-cream Bean (Inga edulis) have become widespread across tea landscapes. They were chosen for shade and fast growth, but their ecological consequences are stark. "They offer no nectar, fruit, or seeds for native birds, and they alter soil chemistry, reducing biodiversity," Gamage explains.