Birds of Kibale forest national park

Birds of Kibale forest national park: Popularly known as the primate capital of the world, Kibale forest national park is also a true birder’s haven. The national park sitted in the western part of Uganda is home to 372 bird species 4 of which have not been recorded anywhere in Uganda’s national parks. Endemic birds to Kibale forest national park include the blue-headed bee-eater, masked apalis, cassin’s spinetail, and nahan’s francolin.

Chimpanzees are the most popular wildlife in Kibale forest national park and then birds follow. Bird watching is the second major activity done within Kibale forest national park as it harbors over 375 bird species. The birds of Kibale forest national park found a comfortable home in the thick high forest vegetation and the swampy areas of Bigodi where food is always plenty for the birds.

Kibale forest national park is a birders parasite with over 372 bird species making it one of the best birding destinations in Uganda. The park receives migratory birds from November to April which increases on the number of birds seen here. Birds of Kibale forest national park can be seen in areas like Kibale forest, and Bigodi wetland sanctuary.

Birds of Kibale forest national park

Birds of Kibale forest national park include the African pitta, African pied wagtail, great blue turaco, green-breasted pitta, Abyssinian ground thrush, green-breasted pitta, crowned eagle, afed pigeon, dusky crimsonwing, black bee-eater, cassin’s spinetail, brown illadopsis, blue-headed sunbird, brown chested alethe, gray-headed olive-back, blue headed bee eater, black-eared ground thrush, black-capped apalis, scaly brested illadopsis, yellow-rumped tinkerbird, western nicator, white-naped pigeon, Rwenzori apalis, red chested owlet, scaly-breasted illadopsis, grey parrot, and masked apalis.

Cameroon sombre greenbu, little greenbul, purple breasted sunbird, papyrus canary, white collared olive, papyrus gonolek, African wagtail, blue-shouldered robin-chat, zebra waxbill, crowned eagle, black-crowned tchagra, alpine swift, yellow spotted nicator, chubb’s cisticola, African emerald cuckoo, African shrike flycatcher, barn swallow, blue-throated roller, white-tailed blue flycatcher, piapiac, black-shouldered nightjar, many colored bushshrike, doherty’s bushshrike, slate-colored boubou, and black-tailed oriole.

African gray woodpecker, cardinal woodpecker, Narina trogon, square-tailed nightjar, plain nightjar, fan-tailed widowbird, African pipit, black-bellied firefinch, African firefinch, shy flycatcher, brown-backed scrub-robin, white-breasted negrofinch, piping hornbill, red-headed lovebird, chestnut wattle eye, speckled mousebird, eastern plantain-eater, bare-faced go-away-bird, hairy breasted barbet, swallow-tailed bee-eater, chocolate backed kingfisher, and superb sunbird.

Birding activities in Kibale forest national park to see the different bird species start early in the morning with a briefing at Kanyanchu visitors centre. Here a well-trained ranger guide who knows about the different bird species does tell you the rules and regulations of the activity. Later the armed ranger guide takes you through different birding trails looking for different birding spots for example Bigodi swamp where over 138 bird species of Kibale do live

Best time to see birds of Kibale forest national park

Are you bothered about what would be the best time to see birds of Kibale, Well birding in the forest can be seen all throughout the year but the best time to see birds of Kibale is June to September. This is always the fruiting season within the park and a lot of birds can be seen because food is abundant. This is also the breeding season within the park therefore bird lovers should expect to see a lot of bird species. June to September is a dry season that receives little or no rainfall which means that the birding trails are dry and easily passable.

Tourists can see the birds of Kibale forest national park during the rainy season of March to May and October to November but this favors budget travelers because the lodges are at a discount. The rainy season has a lot of migratory birds, especially in November and April but there is always plenty of rainfall that makes the birding trails muddy and slippery which limits access to some forest areas.

Accessing Kibale forest national park

Accessing Kibale forest national park by air: Tourists must contact any of the airline companies for example Aerolink Uganda and Bar Aviation Uganda for chattered flights to Kibale forest national park. The flights start from Entebbe international airport or Kajjansi airstrip to Kasese airstrip where they will connect to Kibale using road transport for a few hours.

Accessing Kibale forest national park by road: The road transport journey usually takes 5-6 hours as the park is located 300 km from Kampala. The journey to kibale forest national park starts from Kampala/Entebbe via Mityana, Mubende, Kyegegwa, and Kyenjojo to the park or Kampala via Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi, and Kasese to the park.

Accommodation on a birding safari in Kibale forest national park

Tourists that are going for birding trips in Kibale forest national park has a variety of accommodation to use based on their travel budget. The accommodation facilities in Kibale forest national park are of luxury, mid-range, and budget e.g. Primate Lodge, Nkuruba Nature Reserve, Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Crater Safari Lodge, Rwetera Safari Lodge, Chimpundu Lodge, Kibale Forest Camp, Turaco Treetops, Ndali Lodge, Papaya Lake Lodge, and Kyaninga Crater Lodge among others.