Birding: A Focus On Queen Elizabeth National Park
Birding in Queen Elizabeth National Park is an incredible treat as this is Uganda’s most popular and most scenic National Park that contains a variety of habitats that range from savanna to wetlands to lowland forests. This diversity is reflected in the list of over 600 bird species, the biggest of any protected area in Uganda. A majority of the birds found in this area are regarded as famous birds of East Africa and are a must see for birdwatchers in Africa!
Kasenyi Area
Kasenyi Area
This wildlife hotspot is where almost every tourist vehicle heads in the morning because of the big game viewing, but it also has many Africa bird species, making it a must-see wildlife destination. In this open, grassy area dominated by savanna, birders can see species like:
Palm-nut Vulture
Hooded Vulture
African White-backed Vulture
Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture
Lappet-faced Vulture
Brown Snake Eagle
Wahlberg’s Eagle
Bateleur
Long-created Eagle
Martial Eagle
Grey Kestrel
African Crake
Black-bellied Bustard
Temminck’s Courser
African Wattled Plover
Crowned Plover
Senegal Plover
Kittlitz’s Plover
Rufous napped Lark
Flappet Lark
White-tailed Lark
Brown-backed Srub-Robin
Zitting Cisticola
Croaking Cisticola
Grey-capped Warbler
Black-lored Babbler
Grey backed Fiscal
Black-headed Gonolek
Black-crowned Tchagra
Fork-tailed Drongo
Pin-tailed Whydah
The Mweya Peninsula
This is the site between the Kazinga Channel and Lake Edward where most tourists are based in Queen Elizabeth National Park. This site is also where one is able to see bird species like:
Raptors
African Mourning Dove
Diederik Cuckoo
Squire-tailed Nightjar
Slender-tailed Nightjar
Swamp Nightjar
Blue-naped Mousebird
Grey-Headed Kingfisher
Pygmy Kingfisher
Little Bee-eater
Nubian Woodpecker
Red-capped Lark
Martins
Swallows
Swifts
Grey-capped Warbler
Swamp Flycatcher
Scarlet-chested Sunbird
Red-chested Sunbird
Black-headed Gonolek
Lesser Masked Weaver
Slender-billed Weaver
Yellow-backed Weaver
Pin-tailed Whydah
Marabigambo Forest
This is a forest that covers a big part of Queen Elizabeth along the Kicwamba escarpment on the right side of the western rift valley arm. From the Mbarara-Kasese road to the forest itself, you can find species like:
Little Grebe
African Finfoot
Red-chested Cuckoo
Black Cuckoo
African Emerald Cuckoo
Yellowbill
Black Coucal
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
Black Bee-eater
Blue-throated Roller
Barbets
Red-throated Wryneck
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrike
Honeyguide Greenbul
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Dark-capped Warbler
Green Crombec
Broad-tailed Warbler
African Moustached Warbler
Croaking Cisticola
Black-headed Batis
Black-and-white Shrike Flycatcher
Chestnut Wattle-eye
African Paradise Flycatcher
Brown Illadopsis
Brubru
Marsh Tchagra
Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike
Western Black-headed Oriole
Black Bishop
White-breasted Negrofinch
Katwe Area
In this area, there are several crater lakes and swamps. Here, Lake Munyanyange is favored by various water birds, especially a concentration of Lesser Flamingos and a few Greater Flamingos. The species that can be seen here include:
Lesser Flamingos
Greater Flamingos
Eurasian Mash Harrier
Montagu’s Harrier
Pallid Harrier
Avocet
Common Greenshank
Little Stint
Curlew Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Red-capped Lark
Broad-tailed Warbler
African Moustached Warbler
Croaking Cisticola
Southern Red Bishop
Ishasha Sector
This is another big area that offers a lot to birders in Africa, despite being best-known for its tree-climbing lions. Species that can be seen here include:
Shoebill
Palm-nut Vulture
Hooded Vulture
African White-backed Vulture
Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture
Lappet-faced Vulture
Brown Snake Eagle
Wahlberg’s Eagle
Bateleur
Long-created Eagle
Martial Eagle
African Crowned Eagle
Grey Kestrel
Helmeted Guineafowl
African Crake
Black-bellied Bustard
African Wattled Plover
Senegal Plover
African Green Pigeon
Ross’s Turaco
Striped Kingfisher
Broad-billed Roller
Double-toothed Barbet
White-headed Barbet
Greater Honeyguide
Grey Woodpecker
White-browed Robin-Chat
Brown-backed Scrub-Robin
Green Crombec
Cisticolas
Grey-backed Fiscal
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Lake Kikorongo
This extension of Lake George is a habitat to several waders (or call them waterbirds or waterfowl). The species likely to be seen here include:
Common Squacco Heron
Saddle-billed Stork
Shoebill
Sacred Ibis
Knob-billed Duck
Black Crake
African Jacana
Yellow Wagtail
Lesser Swamp Warbler
Greater Swamp Warbler
White-winged Warbler
Carruther’s Cisticola
Papyrus Gonolek
Katunguru Bridge Area
If you venture to the Katunguru Bridge, where you cross the Kazinga Channel from the Kasese district to the Rubirizi district, be sure to peek beneath the bridge as there is a papyrus swamp hosting species that include:
Pink-backed Pelican
Gull-billed Tern
White-winged Tern
Pied Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher
Lesser Swamp Warbler
Greater Swamp Warbler
White-winged Warbler
Carruther’s Cisticola
Papyrus Gonolek