Birding Tours

Uganda is arguably the most attractive country in Africa to bird watchers, not only because of the overwhelming number of bird species recorded within its borders, but also because it offers easy access to several bird-rich habitats that are difficult to reach else where. Uganda’s remarkable avian diversity goes over 1056 species recorded, this proves the fact that you can’t go a square mile on average without sighting a bird on Ugandan soil.

The key to Uganda’s diversity is its variety of habitats: arid semi-dessert, rich savannahs, lowland and montane rainforests, vast wetlands, volcanoes and an Afro-alpine zone. Uganda covers an altitude from 650 to 5000m.

Analytical of Uganda’s intermediary position is the fact that only one bird is endemic to the country, the rather ordinary Fox’s weaver. However, if you take only East Africa into consideration, then approximately 150 bird species (more than 10% of the regional checklists) are found only in Uganda. This list includes horn-bills, honey guides, African thrush,warblers, flycatchers, sun birds, weavers, finches, storks, tinker birds, pigeons,kingfishers,sparrow hawks, cuckoos, nightjars and the elusive rare shoebill as the highly sought for bird in the region that can be sighted in Uganda’s Ramsar sites.

The rain forests of Western Uganda are seen as the country’s most important bird habitat, and that is the greatest interest to birdwatchers, particularly if they are already familiar with typical East African birds. The most alluring birding spots in Uganda with localized species include Semliki, Budongo Forest, Kibale Forest and Bwindi Forest (all these are protected conservation areas). However, Kibale is Uganda’s spot for forest birds and the nearby Magombe swamp. Even the relatively tame botanical gardens in Entebbe will throw up several interesting species.

Therefore you want to see or watch a wide range of birds in Uganda for tour enthusiasts, try to visit Entebbe (water and forest birds), Lake Mburo (water and acacia associated birds), Queen Elizabeth (Over 600 species are recorded), Murchison Falls (a best place in East Africa to see the Papyrus-associated shoe-bill) and Kidepo (over 50 raptors recorded ) and we are ready to take you there.