Bird Watching Holidays in Uganda
To ambitious bird watchers, a Uganda Birding safari gives you a chance to view over 500 species of birds, which is almost half of Uganda’s richness of the booming bird list that stands over 1,000 species. This number makes Uganda to have about half of the continent’s total bird list that stands at 2,310 species. One of the pleasing factors that gifts Uganda with this impressive bird gemstone is her conducive climate throughout the year enabling bird to breed and while attracting migration of hundreds of others from different parts of the continent like Asia and Europe. In many times, bird watching is done as a top off to other tourism activities in Uganda mostly gorilla tracking in Bwindi and Mgahinga, game drives, mountaineering and cultural tours among other activities to make a complete Uganda safari package.
Where can i find birds in Uganda
Some of the majority experienced bird watchers in the pearl of Africa point out some of the best spots for a fruitful bird watching safari in Uganda. These include Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Semuliki Valley in Semuliki national park, Mabamba Wetland, Bigodi wetland sanctuary, Budongo Forest, Mgahinga National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison falls National Park, Kibale National Park, Lake Mburo National park and Kidepo valley national park though not well marketed by bird watching experts. The Uganda Bird Guides highly recommend Mabamba Swamp on the edge of Lake Victoria as one of Uganda’s Important Bird Areas. The site is a home for the rare Shoebill Storks an endemic for East and Central Africa. Bwindi Impenetrable national park, which is majorly famous for incredible gorilla safaris, is another destination recommended to particular birders. The montane forests of the Kigezi highlands gives one of the finest birding in Africa with over 25 Albertine Rift endemics. The species in this bird gem include some that are globally threatened like the Shelly’s Crimson Wing and African Green Broadbill.
Other Uganda’s bird watching spots like Queen Elizabeth national park qualify as top bird watching sites by holding such a vast numbers of birds and a great variety of species. The park is the most common than any other protected area in Africa with over 600 bird species. Today’s excellent Uganda birding safari are as a result of the great work done by the birding pioneers of Uganda who were very instrumental in installing this exciting door activity on the Uganda’s itineraries back in the late 1990s. The team took it upon themselves to educate and sensitize both locals and the media on how to conserve and promote birding in Uganda. Uganda shined at the Global Big Day in May when 429 bird species where found from across the country by a group of 34 birders that were identified by an experienced network of local guides and the Uganda Tourism Board. Uganda’s impressive numbers put her in the first position in Africa ahead of Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia who were also critical of the success of Africa’s tally. Uganda’s ambitions to promote birding were also indicated by the formation of the Uganda Women Birders in 2013 to attract more women into birding and nature guiding as a profession. This women club has been growing with time with the assistance from tourism authorities including Uganda Wildlife Authority and Uganda Tourism Board. The club has grown from 5 members to over 30 female guides who are recommended for jobs in tour companies as a way of supporting them.
