This information may be inaccurate and somewhat misleading.

G. M. Henry in A Guide to the Birds of Ceylon (1955 edition, OUP London) notes on pages 375 to 377 that the birds of the Order Ciconiiformes found in Sri Lanka include the ibises, spoonbills, storks, herons, egrets, bitterns and flamingos. He goes on to state that "The birds of this Order are nearly all miscalled ‘cranes’ in Ceylon, but true cranes are not found in the Island; though superficially like the storks and herons, they are structurally very different."

It would be interesting to learn to what species the dead birds do, in fact, belong. This may help the investigations which are reported to be underway. For instance, if these birds are truly cranes it would be significant for a determination as to whether they migrated to Sri Lanka.

I thank Professor S. W. Kotagama for confirmation that upto today (2009) cranes (migrant or non-migrant) have not been found in Sri Lanka. I also thank the staff of IUCN - The World Conservation Union for help.