Orchid Malabe: An ideal residence for bird lovers

With over 10,500 identified species, birds are found in all corners of the world. Each species is unique and able to survive in a huge range of environments. And Sri Lanka is one of those countries where you can find many species of birds especially during their migration period. Birds just like animals have love and feelings, using different interesting ways to grab attention from their partners- through sounds, chirping rhythms, dance, and fights to win over their competition, and so on. There are plenty of bird lovers amongst us locals here and residing at a location where we get to experience this is just stunning.

Birds’ habitats are slowly destroyed due to high infrastructure developments and commercialization of cities including urbanization all around the world and it’s the same case with Sri Lanka. However, the Orchid project at Malabe by Nivasie and ICC has made every effort in preserving this beautiful environment with a perfect balance, giving more weightage and space surrounded by greenery. And yes, if you are a resident you are definitely nature’s lover, more like birds’ lover- landscaped parks, natural water bodies, paddy fields and all natural vegetation give serene sanctuary to number of varieties of birds.

Though the project is situated at a highly commercialized city, residents at the luxury housing project Orchid Malabe barely feels that he or she is in a busy, noisy city as the environment is just so calm and peaceful, making it an ideal residence for a responsible, sustainable living.

Interestingly, the project is in a very close proximity to the Thalangama Wetland Sanctuary which is widely regarded as a spot to make bird watching a hobby. The diversity of this wetland is remarkable with over 100 species of birds and a numerous species of butterflies and dragonflies. It includes a variety of water birds namely common moorhen, little cormorant, median egrets, little egret, purple heron, gray heron, pond heron, magpie robin, red watted lapwing, black crowned night heron, little grebe among others.

The wetland is also resident to four species of Kingfishers- Pied Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher and the Stork-billed Kingfisher which is by far the largest Kingfisher in the country. The location is a stop by for birds making their journey to the southern coast during their migrant season. Some migrants include golden plover, lesser sand plover, common sandpiper, common greenshank, wood sandpiper, kenish plover and black wing stilt. many species of forest birds including green imperial pigeon, spotted dove, greater coucal, rose ringe parakeet, Asian koel, Indian scopes owl, brown hawk owl, little green bee-eater, Ceylon small barbet, Indian pigmy woodpecker, etc.

More interestingly residents can just wake up to a walk at the newly built jogging track at Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaratunga Mw, a long two and a half kilometer track runs from Malabe New Kandy Road to Pinketha Junction just 500m away from Orchid Malabe, where everyone get to experience many species that were mentioned before. Fresh air keeps blowing over the paddy fields all the time, giving those walking the perfect environment during the day, even at night the track is fully lit using solar power.

It’s almost impossible to see over a hundred species of birds in a day even in the endemic rainforest such as Yala which provides a matrix of habitats. But here in this area you’re assured of coming across more than 70 species of birds within few hours. Thalangama Wetland’s urban location demonstrates how rich a wildlife refuge it is and how precious it is as an educational and recreational resource for Colombo’s growing population. And Orchid Malabe sets its mark to be an ideal residence to all bird lovers. For more information visit www.orchidbynivasie.com.