Best Birding Sites in Uganda – Uganda Birding Safaris

Best Birding Sites in Uganda – Uganda Birding Safaris : Take your birding passion to the next level by planning an upcoming birding safari in Uganda or Uganda Birding Safaris with Lakeside Tours and Travel that will take you to some of the best birding sites in Uganda, and one of the best Africa wildlife tours out there! With ten national parks, over a wide range species of birds and more species of butterflies, you won’t be disappointed! We also help with accommodation bookings and all other travel arrangements so all you have to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy nature at its finest! while on your Uganda Rwanda Safaris.

Best Time to Go Birding in Uganda

The best time to go birding in Uganda is between November and March, when there are many rare species of birds migrating through. Migration is a great opportunity to see both common and exotic birds that flock to Uganda for its year-round biodiversity. In general, Northern Uganda has more open grassland habitats than Southern regions; therefore, it can be an excellent place for bird watching. With over 1200 different species of birds reported from these areas, bird watchers will have plenty of opportunities to view their favorite species. Some birds you may want to keep an eye out for are Basra Reed Warbler, Yellow-billed Stork and Shoebill, Best Birding Sites in Uganda – Uganda Safaris.

Climate and Geography

Over 40 percent of Uganda is covered with rain-forests, which are also home to an astounding 1,400 birds. Your best spot for bird watching is at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Kibale Forest National Park. Bwindi especially is known for its diversity of bird species and number of sightings per hour. Birds found at these two parks include Grey-headed Parrots, Black Capped Turacos and Chestnut-crowned Hornbills, to mention but a few, Best Birding Sites in Uganda.

Some of the Best Bird Watching Areas in Uganda / Best Birding Sites in Uganda

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park, Mabira Forest Reserve, Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary are known as some of the best birding sites in Uganda. Each of the following has a different Uganda bird-watching Safaris experience to offer to visitors and tourists around. These guests are from Africa and Europe, America and Australia who come here annually to explore Uganda bird watching sites for relaxation with friends and family, for business or for recreation purposes only in Uganda tourism activities alongside many other leading tourist attractions.

Crested Crane

Mabira forest

It’s an easy hour-long drive from Kampala and home to a variety of bird species such as Pied Crows, Red Fronted Parrots, African Finfoots, Swainson’s Thrushes and Rufus Chats. It’s best for watching birds between March and October. The forest itself is about 1,250 hectares in size with about 700 hectares under relatively dense forest cover. There are several distinct habitats here making it home to a range of bird species that can vary quite dramatically depending on the season. All told it should take two or three days at Mabira to get a good sample of all of Uganda’s common bird species if you spend half a day there each day, Best Birding Sites in Uganda – Uganda Birding Safaris

Murchison Falls National Park

This park is considered one of Uganda’s best birding spots because of its high biodiversity and its status. Lake Mburo National Park is also on my list of top 8 Top Safari Tour Attractions in Uganda That Will Take Your Breath Away, since it has interesting sites, hiking trails and wildlife sightings to enjoy. The park has all sorts of birds but a shoebill is the most outstanding bird that attracts many tourists to come to Uganda. There are over 420 bird species that include the gray crowned crane (the national bird for Uganda), Giant Kingfisher, Abyssinian Ground Hornbills, Nightjars, Marabou Stork, Giant Heron, Black-Headed Lapwing, Long-Toed Plover, Osprey, Rock Practincole, Yellow-Fronted Tinkerbird and many more though not mentioned

Kibale Forest National Park

The park is within Kibale County, in western Uganda. It protects an area of tropical rainforest, about four hours’ drive from Kampala. Kibale Forest National Park is home to a great variety of birdlife, including some endemic species such as the Kivu ground thrush and Ruwenzori turaco. The birds can be seen easily at several points throughout the forest. There are over 400 bird species recorded here, more than half of which are resident. There are also over 100 butterfly species recorded here. Kibale is one of Africa’s best places for viewing primates; it contains about 40% of all primate species found in Uganda. Chimpanzees and black-and-white colobus monkeys inhabit the forest along with red tailed guenons, blue monkeys, baboons and many other smaller primates. Larger mammals include elephants, bushbucks (traditionally hunted by local tribes) leopards and duikers among others.