Birdwatching in Queen Elizabeth National Park: Uganda is among the popular birding destinations in the whole of Africa thanks to a huge diversity of bird species including species not easily spotted in any other part of the African continent. Uganda has several birding destinations which have made Uganda certainly one of the finest birding paradises in the world, with more than 1,010 bird species of which you certainly enjoy on a Uganda Safari.
There are various national parks within Uganda that are actually the biggest habitat for most of the bird species. As you embark on bird watching in Queen Elizabeth National Park, you will certainly come across a diversity of wildlife that will make your bird watching safari a very memorable encounter.
Note: The most ideal time to spot birds in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the best bird watching destinations in Uganda, boasting 550 species of birds that have made it a charming destination of tourists that love watching birds.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in Rukungiri district in Southwestern Uganda covering a total land area of 1,978 sq km, sitting at an altitude of 900 meters on the adjacent Lake Edward up to 1,845 meters at the peak of the Western Rift Valley’s eastern escarpment. The park is home to semi-deciduous forest, riverine bush-land, moist thicket and riparian forest.
Among the bird habitants within Queen Elizabeth National Park are open woodlands, rivers, open grasslands, lakes, as well as seasonal and permanent swamps.
Birds in Queen Elizabeth National Park
There several bird species which you will spot during birdwatching in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park has several aquatic birds such as the White-faced Whistling, Spur-wined Plovers, Squacco Heron, Fish Eagle, Pink and white backed Pelicans, Long tailed Cormorants, African Jacana, Yellow backed Weavers, open-billed Stork, Water-Thick knee, Pied kingfishers, Wattled Plovers, the Black Crake and the Knob-billed Ducks, best seen along the impressive Kazinga Channel, a water body connecting Lake Edward to Lake George.
Other prominent species of birds in Queen Elizabeth National Park include the malachite, black-ramped buttonquail, Collard Pranticles, papyrus canary, verreauv’s eagle-owl, black bee-eater, squacco heron, African fish eagle, swamp fly-catcher, long-tailed cormorants, Martial Eagle, Black- rumped Buttonquail African Skimmer, White winged terns, White-winged Warbler, shoebill, African skimmer, Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, Grey-headed kingfisher, papyrus gonolek, Papyrus Canary, and the thin-tailed Nightjars (these singing birds are normally heard in the morning echoing in the tree branches and bush).
The verdant Kyambura Gorge hosts a diversity of forest species including birds, these include Grey Wood pecker, black & African Emerals Cuckoos, Hairy breasted Barbet, speckled Tinker bird, the purple-headed starling as well as the Green Hylia.
Best time for bird watching in Queen Elizabeth National Park
Bird watching in Queen Elizabeth National Park can be done any time of the year, however the finest timing to enjoy bird watching safaris is from December up to February. It is recommended to take a two-days or a three-days bird watching Uganda safari, during this birding safari expect to spot as many as more than half of the 550 species recorded within Queen Elizabeth National Park.
How to Get to Queen Elizabeth National Park
It is really easy to accessible Queen Elizabeth National Park that is by flight or by road from Kampala, Entebbe or the other national parks in the Southwest. From Kampala, it is roughly 250 miles to Queen Elizabeth National Park – the most visited in Uganda.
By Road: From Kampala, the drive takes at least eight hours along a tarmac road. There are two routes from Kampala, via Mbrarara to the east of the park covering a distance of 250 miles, or Fort Portal to the north covering a distance of 260 miles. Most visitors choose to include stops at other parks along the way rather than driving direct from Kampala to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
By Air: Queen Elizabeth National Park can be reached by air from both Entebbe International Airport, the country’s international airport for most likely starting point, and the Kajjansi Airfield near Kampala. The closest airports to Queen Elizabeth National Park are Kasese, Mweya and Ishasha.
Domestic flight network in Uganda offers a range of scheduled direct flights, and aircrafts can also be chartered. The flight time is generally an hour or two.