The royal mile is undoubtedly Uganda’s best birding hotspot especially for the local Guinea/Congo biome bird species that reach Budongo Forest on their eastern range limit. The royal mile trail traces it’s fame from pre-colonial times when the vast Budongo Forest were jealously protected as the royal hunting grounds for the Bunyoro Kings. Featuring on all Uganda birding tours, the royal mile offers unmatched and rewarding forest-birding experience for the localized canopy specialists that occur in century old mahogany and ironwood trees that line the royal mile.
The 435sqkm Budongo Forest lies on the eastern edges of the Albertine Rift zone with a diversity of 380-species that comprise of the Congo-Guinea biome/habitat restricted specialists.
Royal Mile Bird Highlights
While birding at the royal mile highlights will include; Yellow-footed Flycatcher, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Uganda Woodland Warbler, Rufous-crowned Eremomera, James’s Wattle-eye, Ituri Batis, Tit Hylia, Forest Flycatcher, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher also known from Semuliki Forest NP.
Other top highlights include; White-bellied and African Dwarf Kingfishers, Spotted Greenbul, Forest Scimitarbill, Western Black-headed Oriole, Afep Pigeon, Black-billed Weaver, White-thighed Hornbill, Eastern Piping Hornbill, Red-tailed Ant-thrush, Grey and Yellowbills, Yellow-billed Barbet, Crested Guineafowl, Blue-breasted Kingfisher and Willcock’s Honeyguide.
Birding at the royal mile extends along the forest edge and agricultural lands where Cabani’s Bunting, Heuglin’s Francolin, Brown Babbler, African and Jameson’s Firefinches, Copper Sunbird, Brown Twinspot, Moustached Grass Warbler, Fan-tailed Grassbird, Stout and Singing Cisticola, Red-collared Widowbird, Yellow-mantled Widowbird and more occur.
Budongo forest is also utilized by Palearctic and intra-African migrants among the African Pitta that calls around late April and May. The local Nahan’s Partridge and Grey-Ground-Thrush are rare requiring multi-day birding across the forest interior. At Kaniyo Pabid that lie on the eastern edges of Budongo Forest host the Puvell’s Illadopsis.
Getting to Royal Mile – Budongo Forest
The royal mile lies 30km from Masindi town along the now tarmacked Butiaba road turning north near before the sugar town of Kinyara and thereafter the gate is about 4km to the gate.