The birdwatchers quest: through the Swamp of Royal Treasure – Muthurajawela Wetlands

You will meet the Sri Lanka Day Tours staff as well as your guide/naturalist at the pre-designated location. For the morning tour, your starting time will be 7.30 a.m. while the evening excursion begins at 4 p.m. You will be greeted by our warm staff and will be briefed on the two-hour programme by your guide/naturalist before entering the wetlands
Once in the wetlands, you will be able to witness firsthand, the reasons why the Muthurajawela sanctuary is renowned as one of the best natural habitats closer to the capital city of Colombo. Home to a dazzling array of birds, mammals, reptiles and flora, this natural haven is a hotspot for all those with an enthusiasm for the wild
Sri Lanka’s Day Tours owning company Eco Team’s Specialised Birding Arm offers professional and quality birding and nature tours in Sri Lanka since year 2000 for the birding community around the world with varied levels of interest
We have carefully planned every birding and nature tour to maximize our birding success by visiting as many habitats, altitudinal zones, and local lesser known hideouts as possible while still maintaining a reasonable tour pace.

Muthurajawela wetlands

The Muthurajawela marsh is part of an integrated coastal wetland system of high biodiversity and ecological significance, which covers an area of 3,068 ha. It is located between 10-30 km north of Colombo in the Gampaha District. Together with the Negombo Lagoon (3,164 ha), Muthurajawela forms an integrated coastal wetland system of high biodiversity and ecological significance.

The ecosystem is listed as one of 12 priority wetlands in Sri Lanka, and in 1996, an area of some 1,777 ha in the northern section of Muthurajawela was declared a wetland sanctuary. The wetland makes a natural habitat for hundreds of varieties of endangered species as well as endemic species. Due to the ecological and biological importance of this wetland sanctuary it was recently named a 'protected wetland of the world.

It is considered one of most important places in Sri Lanka in terms of flora and is a hotspot for botanists and plan enthusiasts. The Bio diversity report says 209 fauna varieties were identified in the sanctuary, with 17 endemic types and 26 nationally threatened varieties.