Uganda’s Birding Paradise
Uganda’s Birding Paradise: With a checklist of over 1080 bird species, Uganda is surprisingly a good place to go birdwatching, considering its tiny size. Following the country’s location and biological transition zone, where the eastern savannah meets the western rainforest and the northern semi-desert, it is the fourth most bird-watching destination in Africa.
The country is home to rare and endemic wildlife species, including plants, animals, and a number of birds, which only occur naturally in a designated area or destination and nowhere else in the world. The Fox’s Weaver, which is unique to Uganda and nowhere else in East Africa, is one of the numerous endemic bird species found in Uganda.
Given that it attracts a sizable number of tourists from around the globe who come to experience the natural beauty of Uganda’s distinctive species, birding is one of the most popular tourist activities in the country and greatly boosts its tourism economy. Specials, near-endemic, endemic, and seasonal birds are a few of these species to observe.
Following Uganda’s birding paradise, these bird species can be found in many protected areas throughout the nation, including Queen Elizabeth National Park, which has the highest concentration of birds in the country, Kibale Forest National Park, which is well-known for its forest birds, Murchison Falls National Park, which is a popular destination for both common and rare birds, and Mabamba Wetland, which is home to the iconic Shoebill species.
Other top birding sites include Lugogo Swamp in Ziwa Wildlife Sanctuary, Toro Semuliki, which is renowned for the elusive Shoebill species, Mabamba Bay, and Albert Nile Delta, as well as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Maghinga National Park, which are popular sites for the Albertine Rift Endemics. Furthermore, the only place in East Africa to witness different species of the Guinea-Congo Forest Biome is Semuliki National Park.
Birds of Uganda’s Birding Paradise
- Black-billed Turaco
Black Bee-eater
Rwenzori Nightjar
Dwarf Honeyguide
Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird
Regal Sunbird
Black-lored Babbler
Black and White Casqued Hornbill
Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher
Ansorge’s Greenbul
Blue Malkoha
Strange Weaver
Chapin’s Flycatcher
Oberlaender’s Ground Thrush
Bar-tailed Trogon
Fox’s Weaver-(Uganda’s birding paradise)
Dusky’s Crimsonwing
Red-faced Woodland Warbler
Blue-headed Sunbird
Neumann’s Warbler
Ituri Batis
Uganda Woodland Warbler
Rwenzori Turaco
Archer’s Robin-chat
Golden-winged Sunbird
Stripe-breasted Tit
Jackson’s Spurfowl
Great Blue Turaco
Luhder’s Bush-shrike
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
Grant’s Bluebill
Red-faced Barbet
Black-faced Rufous Warbler
Jameson’s Antpecker
Rwenzori Batis
Green-breasted Pitta-(Uganda’s birding paradise)
Grauer’s Swamp Warbler
Magpie Mannikin
Blue-throated Roller
Karamoja Apalis
Turner’s Eremomela
Clapperton’s Francolin
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
Many-coloured Bush-shrike
Doherty’s Bush-shrike
Equatorial Akalat
Grauer’s Broadbill
Handsome Francolin
African Grey Parrot
Purple-breasted Sunbird
Red-throated Alethe
What is the best time for birding in Uganda?
Although most common birds may be seen, birdwatchers can go birding in Uganda throughout the year. Nonetheless, there are two dry seasons and two rainy seasons in the nation. To have a successful birdwatching trip, the climate is therefore one of the most important aspects to take into account when organising birding trips.
Following Uganda’s birding paradise, March through May and September through November are the rainy season months in the country’s central and southern regions, while March through November is when it happens in the northern region. These birding locations’ roads are often in poor shape due to heavy rainfall throughout the rainy season, which could alter the birding schedule.
The dry season, which occurs from May to September and December to February, offers the best birdwatching experience, since these months receive intermittent rainfall, leading to an increase in food supply. However, May and June constitute the ideal times of year for nesting in the dense jungles of Mgahinga National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, which are prime locations for endemic species of the Albertine Rift. However, the region can still have a lot of rain from mid-April to mid-May. The ideal times to track primates and see animals are during the dry seasons, which run from June to August and December to February. These two locations are well-known for tracking mountain gorillas.