BIRDING WITH BREEZE TRAVEL AND SAFARIS

Uganda is the birders’ ultimate destination the Crowned Crane Uganda has more bird species per square kilometre than any other country in Africa. Uganda, roughly the same size as the UK, can boast a national list of 1008 species! This figure represents more than half the bird species that can be found in the whole of Africa. 

Its location near the East African rich savannahs, the Central African montane, rainforest, volcanoes, Afro-Alpine zone and the semi-desert of the north gives it a remarkable diversity. Among these are many special birds, such as the shoebill and numerous spectacular endemics of the Albertine Rift Valley.  

There are more than 700 forest reserves in Uganda. One particular region is the Albertine Rift Endemic area (ARE), which has 38 species of birds confined to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo. Of these ARE’s Uganda has 25, mostly confined to the forests of Magahinga and Bwindi National Parks in the Southwest. 

Wetlands:

Uganda has 30,000 square kilometers of wetland.
210 species from the Shoebill and African Skimmer to the endemic Fox’s Weaver.
4 Papyrus endemics; Papyrus Gonolek, Papyrus Canary, White-winged Warbler and Papyrus Yellow Warbler.
A White-winged Black Tern roost of 2-3 million birds in the Entebbe area.
Savannahs vary from the remote, semi-dessert, dry thorn-scrub region of Karamoja in the Northeast, to the richer fertile savannahs of the western Rift valley. Queen Elizabeth National Park has a bird list of 604 species the highest for any protected area in Africa. 

Some of the dry thorn-scrub birds:

Swallow-tailed Kite
Pygmy Falcon
Fox Kestrel
Quail Plover
Black-headed Plover
Lichtenstein’s and Four-banded Sandgrouse
Kori, White-bellied and Hartlaub’s Bustards
White-crested Turaco
White-bellied Go-away bird
Piapiac
Bristle-crowned Starling
Abyssinian Roller
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
Karamoja Apalis
Yellow-billed Shrike
Pygmy Sunbird
Brown-rumped Bunting

Kampala and Entebbe:

Over 550 species for the region.
A suburban garden list of 206 species.
212 species listed in 12hrs by 3 people.
One of the largest urban breeding colony of Marabou Storks.
Great Blue and Ross’s Turacos are common city birds.
Within The Kampala region are two major forest reserves less than an hours drive from the city which hold a variety of very special birds that includes:
- Nahan’s Francolin
- Cassin’s Hawk Eagle
- Crowned Eagle
- Blue-breasted and White-bellied Kingfishers
- Blue-throated Roller
- Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrike
- Tit-Hylia
- Brown Twinspot
- Grey-rumped and Blue Swallows
- Emerald, Red-chested and Black Cuckoos
- Weyn’s Weaver 

Some common urban birds:

Open-billed Stork
Grey-crowned Crane
Wahlberg’s Eagle
Palm-nut Vulture
Black and White Casqued, Crowned and Pied Hornbills
Cuckoo Hawk
Bat Hawk
White-faced Scops Owl
African Grey and Brown Parrots
Red-faced Lovebird
Black-headed Gonolek 

Uganda’s 10 most commonly sought after Birds:

Shoebill
African Green Broadbill
Green-breasted Pitta
Nahan’s Francolin
Brown-chested Plover
Karamoja Apalis
Black Bee-eater
Ruwenzori Turaco
Red-fronted Antpecker
Purvell’s Illadopsis 

Top Birding spots in Uganda:

Mabamba Swamp: Shoebill Stork - Access opposite the Mpanga Forest 30 kms west of Kampala.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest: Buhoma - Ruhija - Black Bee-eater, African Green Broadbill

Budongo Forest: Kanyu Papidi - Purvels Illadopsis, Shinning Blue Kingfisher, White Crested Turaco

Budongo Forest: The Royal Mile - Chocolate Backed, Dwarf, Blue Breasted Kingfishers

Mgahinga National Park: Ruwenzori Turaco, Red tufted Malachite Sunbird

Murchison Falls: Bat Hawk over the falls at sunset, Red Fronted Bee Eaters, Denhams Bustard, Shoebill

Mabira Forest: Nahan.s Francolin and various forest species

Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary: Black Billed Turaco, White Spotted Crake

Lake Mburo: Papyrus Gonelek

Rwenzori Mountains: Various Sunbird species

Semliki National Park: White Crested Hornbill, Ituri Batis

Kibale Forest: Green Breasted Pitta

Migration:

Uganda is situated in a major flyway between the Albertine and Great rift Valleys.

Of Uganda’s 1008 species, 137 are Palearctic migrants.

At times of peak Spring passage, Waders congregate at all the muddy lagoons around the Entebbe peninsular with mixed flocks of thousands of birds.

Thousands of Steppe Buzzards and migrant Black Kites head south with smaller numbers of Honey Buzzard, Steppe and Booted Eagles each October.

Flocks of European Hobbies moving through join their African counterparts to feed at dusk in flocks of upto 30 or more around the hills of Kampala.

Barn Swallow and Sandmartins congregate in the millions feeding on the even larger swarms of Lake Flies.

The Yellow Wagtail overwinters with an estimated 1 million birds roosting in the reedbeds along the Kazinga Channel in QENP.

Conclusion

For a 10-14 day trip in Uganda a birder could probably see in the region of 400-500 species and have had the experience of birded in some of the most exciting and beautiful scenery in Africa.