Favored with high elevations, an-all-year round equatorial climate, Uganda is a top birding destination in Africa boasting a 1080 bird species checklist. This is an equivalent of 50% of the continent’s checklist for such a small country of this size. Sitting in the heart of Africa, Uganda lies at confluence of Africa’s 5 biomes or habitats where the West African rainforests meet the East African savanna grasslands. These habitats include extensive wetlands surrounding fresh water lakes and rivers, montane rainforests in the Albertine Rift, semi-arid scrubland and bushlands, savanna grasslands and woodlands. This diversity of unique habitats hosts a variety of species from regional endemics, habitat restricted specialists, altitude-limited species and generalists.
The Top 20 Birds to see on a Uganda birding Tour listed below follows no particular criteria but relies purely on the feedback of our seasoned birding clients and our own years of birding across Uganda’s varied bird hotspots. The collection of species range from the elusive and pre-historic, to endemic, to bizarre-looking, to generalists and to habitat restricted varieties.
Top 20 Birds to see on a Uganda Birding Tour
The Shoebill
The bizarre and odd-looking Shoebill ranks on top of any bird-wish-list to see on any Ugandan tour by avid and casual birdwatchers. The pre-historic Shoebill (Balanaeniceps rex) was earlier thought to be related to pelicans and storks but is now classified in its own class having no near affinities and categorized as highly endangered due to hunting and habitat loss. Plumaged in uniform grey, the Shoebill stands at about 1.5m tall with an over-sized straw-colored shoe-like bill and a resident of marsh and secluded wetlands. The Shoebill is a rare bird only known from a handful locations across Africa. In Uganda it’s encountered in the extensive wetlands of Mabamba set along the northern shores of Lake Victoria, the Nile Delta and wetlands on Lake Albert, Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary are the most reliable sites to them.
Grauer’s (African Green) Broadbill
Endemic to the Albertine Rift, the Grauer’s Broadbill is top bird to see on a birding tour to Uganda. The plump, leaf-green and short tailed fly-catcher-like Broadbill occur at 2000m within primary rainforest belt in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park where it prefers the canopy especially near the streams. For sometime pairs of this little-known birds Albertine Endemics have been monitored and nor confirmed to breed successfully in the high-altitude section of this protected rain forest.
Green-breasted Pitta
The elusive characterful Pitta is twitched with success in the mid-altitude forests of Kibale National Park where pairs are often encountered on the forest floor. The characterful displays and calls of males during breeding season is remarkable!
Fox’s Weaver
A healthy population of Uganda’s only endemic occurs in the flood grassland plains near L. Bisinia and other areas within Teso region in Eastern Uganda. Usually favoring water edge acacia trees, the species extends into Pian Upe reserve close to Mt Elgon NP which indicates its bigger range than originally thought to be.
Rwenzori Turaco
The colorfully painted Turaco mainly occurs on the montane slopes of Rwenzori mountain ranges and Mgahinga NP.
Great-blue Turaco
Locally known as “tree-branch marathon runner” the characterful long-black crested blue turacos are often seen running, and jumping along large tree branches along and close to the forest edges even in mature gardens with large trees in urban centers.
Standard-winged Nightjar
The unique characterful nightjar puts on impressive wing shafts in males during breeding season (Sept-Apr) that literary look like small flags attached to the body by small wires.
Shelley’s Crimson Wing
This impressive Albertine endemic occurs in the mountain rainforests of Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable NP. The largest of the crimson wings, its all red bill and yellow green throat and upper breast further separates it from the Red-faced and Dusky Crimson-wings that occur in the same range.
Short-tailed/Neumann’s Warbler
With no known relatives, this Albertine rift endemic occurs in the dense forest undergrowth near streams where it forages. The diagnostic long white-superciliary stripe recalls a Green Hylia but that species is not only larger and long tailed favoring mid-strata and forest canopy.
Bar-tailed Trogon
The colorful trogon replaces its savanna woodland cousin Narina Trogon in the highland and montane forests. Overall looks darker with black and white barred on the undertail, could be under looked when not calling regardless of its bright colors. These species is usually encountered in Bwindi and tropical forest on lower elevation on the Rwenzori mountain.
Karamoja Apalis
A specialist of dry-thorn bush and scrub, the Karamoja Apalis is found in the far east of Uganda. Here its fond of Acacia where flocks can be seen gleaning.
Papyrus Gonolek
The shy and golden-crowned Papyrus Gonolek is a L. Victoria biome specialist occurring in a few papyrus swamps around L. Victoria extending all the way to the western region and along the Nile Delta near L. Albert.
African Fin-foot
The secretive species can be encountered on backwaters of several water bodies and forest pools in selected sites within Uganda with the quite waters of Lake Mburo a reliable place to tick it off.
Grauer’s Rush Warbler
This Critically endangered Albertine rift endemic is encountered in highland swamps above 2000m in the south-west, thou populations are dwindling due to habit conversion to agriculture in most of its range outside protected areas.
Kivu Ground Thrush
This shy and retiring forest thrush is restricted to the mountain rain forests in the Albertine rifts especially in Bwindi NP and Mgahinga NP where pairs are usually encountered along the moist trails.
Handsome Francolin
Handsome indeed…it occurs in highland forests of Bwindi and Mgahinga NP close and along the bamboo zones. Encountered in pairs, the distinctive bright red skin around the eyes separates them from smaller Scaly Francolin that shares the same habitats.
Grey-crowned Crane
The graceful crane is Uganda’s national Bird, and its black yellow red plumage is our national flag colors and also the name to the national soccer team; the Uganda Cranes. Pairs and occasional flocks prefer moist habitats.
Black-breasted Barbet
A large barbet of mature woodlands, the Black-breasted Barbet is occasionary twitched near Murchison Falls NP, where it favors fruiting fig trees. Similar looking Double-toothed barbet has a bright red breast and throat.
Regal Sunbird
Endemic to the Albertine Rift, the Regal Sunbird is one common specie in the montane highlands Bwindi and Mgahinga NP. Colorful males are iridescent green above and throat, bright red on belly edged with broad yellow patches while female is uniform olive.