Birdwatching or birding offers a unique opportunity for you to embark on a journey to observe birds in their habitats. During bird-watching safaris, you can engage in casual observation of birds to the actual identification of the species. There are many bird-watching (birding) opportunities in East Africa, including Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
Uganda is a birder’s paradise, home to approximately 1,080 species of birds, which account for about 60% of the bird species on the African continent. Uganda also shelters over 11% of the world’s bird species. In Uganda, expect to explore diverse birding sites and numerous bird species, including resident and endemic species including fox’s weaver birds, elusive shoebill stork, African green breasted pitta, and Karamoja apalis.
Other Albertine endemic species of birds include the Rwenzori batis, red-faced woodland warblers, Rwenzori nightjars, blue-headed sunbirds, red-throated alethe, Shelley’s crimson-wing, dwarf honey-guide, handsome francolin, short-tailed warblers, purple-breasted sunbirds, stripe-breasted tit, Archer’s robin-chat, collared apalis, dusky crimson wing, and Kivu ground thrush.
Top places for birdwatching in Uganda
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Not only does Bwindi offer gorilla treks, but also offers rewarding bird-watching excursions. A guided birding tour in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park lets you search for diverse birds. Over 350 species of birds reside in Bwindi and include several of fine-banded woodpeckers, western green tinkerbirds, Archer’s robin-chat, African wood owl, and more.
Mgahinga National Park
A guided birding tour in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park allows you explore most of the Albertine rift endemic and resident birds. The park is endowed with birds such as brown crowned tchagra, Rwenzori turacos, brown woodland warblers, Lagden’s bushrike, black-collared apalis, Kivu ground thrush, cape robin-chat, black kite, Handsome francolin, scarlet-tufted malachite sunbird, regal sunbird, Dusky crimsonwing, bronze sunbird, olive woodpecker, montane sooty boubou, Paradise flycatchers, and cinnamon-chested bee-eaters.
Murchison Falls National Park
Located in Northwestern Uganda, Murchison is home to 451 species of birds. These include water birds, endemic species, forest, and savanna bird species. A guided birding tour in Murchison Falls National Park offers a great chance to identify birds such as Hugli’s francolin, White-faced whistling, Martial eagle, Dark chanting goshawk, Egyptian plover, & goliath heron. This park also hosts Denham’s bustards, secretary birds, Abyssinian ground hornbill, pel’s fishing owl, red-throated bee-eaters, shoebill storks, black & white casqued hornbill.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
At Queen Elizabeth National Park, there reside over 620 species of birds. These are distributed across the park’s premier birding spots, including Katwe, Kasenyi, Katunguru, Mweya peninsula, Ishasha, Maramagambo Forest, and Lake Kikorongo. During a guided birding excursion, expect to find birds such as white-tailed lark, grey kestrel, martial eagle, Hooded vulture, black-lored babbler, African jacanas, red-collared widowbird, Ross’s turacos, pied kingfishers, grey crowned crane, and palm-nut vulture.
Semuliki birding tours
Explore Semuliki National Park and its diverse bird species. A total of 441 species of birds thrive in the Semuliki and include the Great blue turacos, lyre-tailed honey guide, red-billed helmet-shrike, piping hornbill, papyrus gonoleks, yellow-throated nicator, Carruthers’s cisticola, Congo serpent eagle, white-throated blue swallow, and Ituri batis, etc.
Lake Mburo National Park
Lying in Western Uganda, Lake Mburo National Park holds over 350 bird species in its diverse birding sites. The park is popular for its enriching birding sites like Miriti around the salt licj, Warukiri, and Rubanga. The key bird species to find on a birding tour in Lake Mburo National Park include coqui francolin, grey-crowned crane, red-faced barbet, rufous-bellied heron, bateleur, and white-headed barbet. Lake Mburo also supports birds such as African wattled lapwing, African fish eagle, African fin foot, common cuckoos, Angola swallow, and others.
Budongo Forest
Over 360 bird species reside in Budongo Forest. They include Puvel’s illadopsis, yellow-footed flycatchers, white-thighed hornbills, crowned eagles, chocolate-backed kingfishers, Cameroon Sombre greenbul, black-headed paradise flycatchers, Nahan’s francolin, olive green camaroptera, African shrike flycatchers, dusky long-tailed cuckoo, Ituri batis, Cassin’s hawk-eagle, black-eared ground thrush, and African emerald cuckoo.
Other birds of interest in Budongo Forest include Ituri batis, crested guineafowl, lemon-bellied crombec, brown twin spot, little green sunbird, Sabine’s spine tail, plain greenbul, white-thighed hornbill, and speckled pigeon.
Kibale National Park
Kibale is home to 375 species of birds, and they include 6 Albertine endemic species of birds. The notable species of birds in Kibale Forest National Park include the black-capped apalis, dusky crimson-winged, collared apalis, grey-winged robin, brown-chested alethe, blue-breasted kingfishers, papyrus gonoleks, yellow-spotted nicator, black bee-eaters, and papyrus canary.
Kibale National Park is also popular for birds such as blue-headed coucals, speckled mousebirds, bare-faced go-away birds, white-crested turacos, Nahan’s francolin, red-fronted tinkerbird, trilling cisticola, black-faced rufous warblers, green-breasted pittas, green-backed camaroptera, yellow-vented eremomela, banded prinia, tawny flanked prinia, Chubb’s cisticola, and purple-breasted sunbirds.
The Rwenzori Mountains National Park
Visit Mount Rwenzori National Park to enjoy amazing bird sightings. Over 217 bird species reside in this park and include several endemic species in the Albertine Rift Region. The birds to identify while Mt Rwenzori National Park include Lagden’s bush-shrikes, blue-headed sunbirds, slender-billed starling, Long-eared owl, Black eagles, Rwenzori turacos, and Golden-winged sunbird.
Lutembe Bay/wetland
A guided birding tour in Lutembe allows you explore different bird species, including the migratory and indigenous species. The checklist of birds to explore on a birding safari in Lutembe wetland includes sooty chat, African pygmy kingfishers, African green pigeon, Holub’s golden weaver, tropical boubou, brown-backed scrub robins, and white-winged black tern.
Birdwatching destinations in Rwanda
Volcanoes National Park
At Volcanoes National Park, there are over 200 species of birds to explore. They include the Rwenzori double-collared sunbirds, grey-headed bushshrike, Dusky crimson wing, strange weaver birds, African goshawk, scarlet tufted malachite sunbird, Lagden’s bush shrike, strange weaver birds, crested barbet, African babbler, bronzy sunbird, and Kivu ground thrush.
Nyungwe Forest National Park
About 310 species of birds are concentrated in Nyungwe and include Albertine rift species and other resident species. The birds of Nyungwe Forest include, among others, the red-throated alethe, dusky crimsonwing, Neumann’s warblers, Kungwe apalis, long-crested eagle, mountain masked apalis, Rwenzori turacos, yellow-eyed black flycatchers, blue-headed sunbird, and Archer’s robin chat.
Akagera National Park
Approximately 500 bird species call Akagera home and include raptors, wetland birds, migratory, woodland, and savanna species. A birding tour in Akagera allows you to explore birds such as the crested barbets, lilac-breasted rollers, saddle-billed storks, African fish eagle, bateleur, and blue-shouldered robin-chat, etc.
Kenya and Tanzania shouldn’t be missed on your bucket list of birding safari destinations. Each of these East African destinations promises astonishing bird sightings, including migratory, endemic, and resident bird species. Plan and book a birding tour with Rivo Safaris Ltd to explore your favorite birds in their natural habitats.