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. Queen Elizabeth National Park is classified as an Important Birding Area (IBA) by Birding International as 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

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 Kichwamba 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