Whistling Lizard

Calotes liolepis

Description:

An endemic lizard to Sri Lanka distributed in South-Western wet lowlands, sub-montane areas and few isolated places of dry lowlands (Such as Nilgala,Ritigala, Monaragala, Yala etc.). It is highly arboreal species and inhabits shaded areas of forests, well wooded home gardens and plantations. Whistling lizard has an unusual habit of uttering a high pitched whistling sound when alarmed. Hence its vernacular name. It feeds mainly on insects.

Habitat:

found on a tree bark in an abandoned tea estate at the edge of the Knuckles mountain range, a part of the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka which is declared as a world Heritage Natural site....

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19 Comments

Bhagya Herath 9 years ago

Thanks a lot armadeus.4 and Jim

Jim Nelson 9 years ago

I am impressed...great job on this one!

armadeus.4 9 years ago

I like the green stripes on this fella. Thank you for the info and for sharing Bhagya :)

Bhagya Herath 9 years ago

Thanks Daniele and Mark... nop Mark we didnt hear the whistling sound unfortunately...

Mark Ridgway 9 years ago

Very nice spotting Bhagya.
Does it do request tunes?

DanielePralong 9 years ago

Nice series Bhagya! Thanks for having added the interesting habitat information :-)

Bhagya Herath 9 years ago

Thank you Hema....

Hema Shah 9 years ago

Great Series!!

Bhagya Herath 9 years ago

Thanks Maria.. this was taken in an abandoned tea estate at the edge of the Knuckles mountain range, a part of the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka which is declared as a world Heritage Natural site....

Bhagya Herath 9 years ago

Thank you Fyn.....

Maria dB 9 years ago

Very nice series. Where did you see it? A nature reserve?

Fyn Kynd 9 years ago

Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!