One of the major features at Sinharaja is the presence of bird "Feeding flocks". These flocks give life to the forest which under normal conditions is silent and uneventful. It is also the highlight of bird watching in the forest. Most of the birds that one desires to see are seen in these flocks. Studies on the feeding flocks initiated in 1981 have continue to date. This has resulted in the feeding flocks of Sinharaja the most studied group in the world.
Since 1981, 186 bird species have been seen in the reserve, including 104 nonraptorial, diurnal, forest species. A flock is generally considered to be any association of "two or more species moving in the same direction", and a feeding flock was one where this movement was associated with feeding. Any bird or mammal seen moving with the flock at some point during the observation period was recorded as a participant. This inclusive definition meant that some animals in fact generally unassociated with flocks, but moving by chance in the same area and the same direction, were included in the flock record.
A total of 476 flock observations have been made up to date. Of these 298 has information on the total number of individuals in the flock. Analysis of the results has provided some very interesting information.
Flock averaged 11 species. In total, 59 bird species were seen in the flocks, including 18 endemic species. There were 21 (9 endemic) found in more than 25% of the flocks. This level of species presence in a flock is referred to as "regular". Flocks averaged around 42 individuals.
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