Bird watching in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Bird watching in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is one of the top birding destinations in Uganda. The park is home to 350 bird species of which 23 species are endemic to the libertine rift region. Bwindi National Park is an impenetrable forest in the southwestern part of Uganda in Kisoro district. The park was gazetted in 1993 to protect the different wildlife species that were living there at the time including the birds.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is famous for harboring endangered mountain gorillas that are endemic to the Virunga Conservation Area and Bwindi. Most tourists that visit the park come for gorilla trekking activities to see these apes in their natural habitat carrying out daily activities. Even though Bwindi is famous for mountain gorillas, the same park is one of the top birding destinations in the country where birders can spot up to 350 bird species.

Which bird species can be spotted in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park?

Shelly’s crimsonwing, ladgen’s bush shrike, many-colored bush-shrike, grauer’s swamp warbler, archer robin chat, grauer’s warbler, regal sunbird, willard’s sooty boubou, dusky crimson wing, nueman’s warbler, African golden breasted bunting, oriole finch, African olive-pigeon, European honey buzzard, stuhlmanns starling, archer’s robin-chat, speckled mouse bird, pin tailed whydah, mackinnon’s shrike, tambourine dove.

Rwenzori batis, African goshawk, grey crowned crane, snowy-crowned robin-chat, yellow-fronted canary, blue spotted wood dove, Jameson’s antpecker, cape wagtail, African citril, common sandpiper, blue-headed sunbird, scaly francolin, woolly necked stork, purple breasted sunbird, black bee-eater, toro olive greenbul, olive-breasted greenbul, red chested fluff tail, giant kingfisher, brown-capped weaver.

Great blue turaco, lizard buzzard, African dusky flycatcher, marabou stork, carruthers cisticola, Angolan swallow, scarce swift, zebra waxbill, little grebe, white-headed saw-wing, dwarf honeyguide, Rwenzori nightjar, red-capped robin chat, doherty’s bush-shrike, African paradise flycatcher, magpie manikin, diederik cuckoo, black swift, waller’s starling, grey wagtail, ansorge’s greenbul, African flycatcher-chat.

African hill babbler, white-throated greenbul, hairly breasted barbet, western nector, white spotted fluff tail, chapin’s flycatcher, helmeted guinea fowl, mountain wagtail, western green tinkerbird, green combec, shikra, oberlanders ground thrush, dusky twin spot, arrow marked babbler, yellow-fronted canary, marsh tchagra, African pygmy kingfisher, afed pigeon, sooty falcon, brown chested alethe, woolly necked stork, red knobbed coot.

Papyrus canary, plain backed pipit, icterine warbler, green hylia, fine banded woodpecker, rock martin, blue billed teal, brown illadopsis, forest robin, equatorial akalat, scaly throated honey guide, barred long-tailed cuckoo, cattle egret, yellow streaked greenbul, white-winged tit, cassin’s flycatcher, alpine swift, grosbeak weaver, tit hylia, buff spotted wood pecker, wood houses anti pecker, luhder’s bush-shrike, lagden’s bush shrike, palm nut vulture.

Ayres hawk eagle, chestnut throated apalis, banded prinia, petit’s cuckoo-shrike, short-tailed warbler, black crake, willcocks’s honey guide, hadada ibis, ross’s turaco, singing cisticola, African hawk eagle, elliot’s woodpecker, horus swift, copper sunbird, mottled swift, little grebe, grey-checked hornbill, klaas’s cuckoo, pink-footed puff back, buff spotted fluff tail, crested guinea fowl, African wood-owl, bocage’s bush shrike, and Eurasian hobby to mention but a few

Experience a luxury birding safari in the ever green lush forests of Bwindi Impenetrable forest

The best birding trails in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

To see most of the bird species in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, birders must use the best birding trails. The best birding guides and armed ranger guides lead birders through these trails and make sure that they see most of the birds recorded in the park. The Main trail, Bamboo zone, Buhoma waterfall trail, and Mubwindi swamp are the best birding trails within the park.

When to go bird watching in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Every day is a birding day in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park all that birders need is to know the right time to go for the activity. Morning is the best time to go bird watching in Bwindi, and maybe late evening hours are also good. During these times, birders have a high chance of seeing bird species of the park feeding on different fruits, seeds, and aquatic vegetation.

Tourists who will do birding in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park during the dry season in June to September and December to February will find the weather favorable. These months are characterized by little or no rainfall, and there is always plenty of sunshine. The walking trails are dry and easier to walk through which allows birders to have access to most of the birding areas.

Tourists who will carry out bird watching in Bwindi during the rainy season from March to May and October to November shall find the areas in a rainy season. There will be so many birds in the park due to the abundance of food everywhere. Tourists should however know that this is a rainy season and they should expect rainfall at any time of the day. The birding trails tend to be muddy and slippery which limits access to some forest areas.

What to carry for bird watching in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Before traveling to any place for bird watching, you need to know all the necessary requirements for you to have a successful activity. What is needed for bird watching is a lot however there are essentials such as waterproof hiking shoes, long cotton stocks, long-sleeved clothes, a rainy jacket, a backpack, a pair of binoculars, a camera, a voice recorder, a telescope, a birding guide, sunscreen, insect repellents, a drinking water bottle, and energy giving snacks to mention but a few.