Is bird watching in Rwenzori Mountains National Park worth the money?
Is bird watching in Rwenzori Mountains National Park worth the money?: Birding in Rwenzori Mountains National Park may not be as well marketed as mountain climbing, but the national park is considered among the best places for bird watching in western Uganda. Over 217 bird species have been spotted and recorded within Rwenzori Mountains National Park and about 19 bird species have been said to be endemic to the Albertine region.
One of the best places in western Uganda to go bird watching is Mountain Rwenzori. The national park is located in Kasese, Kabarole, and Bundibugyo district where it covers a total area of 998 sq. km. Rwenzori Mountains National Park has got different vegetation covers which are home to different bird species., mammals, and primates to mention but a few.
Is bird watching in Rwenzori Mountains National Park worth the money?
Mountain Rwenzori National Park is home to over 217 bird species and this makes it one of the best birding destinations in western Uganda. The national park might be famous for mountain climbing but it is also considered one of the best places to go birding in western Uganda. For birders who have been asking whether bird watching in this national park is worth the money, Well today let’s look at the cost of birding and the different bird species you can watch there so that you see it’s worth the money paid for.
The cost of birding in Rwenzori Mountains National Park
Birding in Rwenzori Mountains National Park is a guided activity done with armed ranger guides who make sure that everyone is safe as they look out for different bird species. Birders in Rwenzori Mountains National Park pay a fee to carry out bird watching and this is $30 for foreign non-residents, $25 for foreign residents, and UGX20,000 members of East African citizens. The birding fees can be paid directly at UWA offices or at the park headquarters.
Paying the above money for bird watching is worth it because it’s affordable and it does give birders an opportunity to see more than half of the recorded bird species including the endemic ones. With a well-trained bird guide and a local birder, birders are able to see lots of bird species that have been recorded in the park. A local birder is very necessary as he knows the best areas to meet certain birds in the park the fact that he is used to the area.
Which bird species can be seen in Rwenzori Mountains National Park?
Over 217 bird species can be seen in different vegetation types in Rwenzori Mountains National Park. Some of the birds of Mountain Rwenzori national park include Rwenzori turaco, long eared owl, dusky crimsonwings, cinnamon chested bee eater, stout cisticola, angola swallow, barred long tailed cuckoo, golden winged sunbird, cinnamon bracken warbler, regal sunbird, banded prinia, collared apalis, trilling cisticola, grey chested illadopsis, stuhlmann’s sunbird, Rwenzori batis, rock martin.
Red tufted sunbird, brown woodland warbler, black billed turaco, streaky seedeater, African pied wagtail, road throated alethe, ruppell’s staling, long eared owl, chestnut throated apalis, Montane Rwenzori nightjar, black capped apalis, sharpe’s starling, African scared ibis, olive woodpecker, stuhlmann’s starling, montane sooty boubou, northern grey headed sparrow, sharpe’s starling, red faced cisticola, evergreen forest warbler, mountain buzzard, grey winged robin, western yellow wagtail.
Black faced rufous warbler, black sawing, lagden’s bush shrike, black billed seedcracker, fawn breasted waxbill, masked apalis, golden backed weaver, archer’s robin chat, yellow bellied waxbill, white necked raven, red faced crimsonwing, African thrush, red winged francolin, scaly breasted illadopsis, little bee eater, black headed heron, lesser striped swallow, cinnamon bracken warbler, red thighed sparrowhawk, augur buzzard, oriole finch, wattled lapwing, black crowned waxbill, variable sunbird.
Grey apalis, lapped faced vulture, mountain illadopsis, rameron pigeon, grey headed nigrita, red headed bluebill, mountain yellow warbler, mountain yellow warbler, black headed sunbird, European bee eater, grey headed nigrita, plain martin, narrow tailed starling, chestnut winged starling, mackinnon’s shrike, red chested cuckoo, cattle egret, white wagtail, kivu ground thrush, black tailed oriole, afed pigeon.
Slender billed greenbul, toro olive greenbul, willow warbler, singing cisticola, green white eye, handsome francolin, red eyed dove, long crested eagle, grey headed kingfisher, crowned eagle, glossy ibis, black winged kite, rameron pigeon, brown woodland warbler, tambourine dove, scaly spurfowl, brown snake eagle, blue spotted wood dove, barn owl, little grebe,
dwarf honeyguide, thick billed seedeater, Evergreen forest warbler, yellow crowned canary, slender billed starling, northern fiscal, thick billed seedeater, western citril, white wagtail, hadada ibis, great crested grebe, western green tinkerbird, Rwenzori turaco, black kite, scarlet tufted malachite sunbird, grey heron, yellow billed barbet, cabanis’s greenbul, eastern plantain eater, long toed lapwing, yellow longbill, little swift.
Strange weaver, speckled mousebird, white browed coucal, chestnut wattle eye, Eurasian kestrel, honeyguide greenbul, grey tit flycatcher, African wood owl, levaillant’s cuckoo, malachite king fisher, speckled tinkerbird, African green pigeon, grey throated barbet, lunder’s bushshrike, blue headed coucal, Albertine boubou, marabou stork, African hobby, common bulbul, common sandpiper, western tinkerbird, scarce swift.
Rwenzori apalis, Rwenzori hill babbler, least honeyguide, African emerald cuckoo, western tinkerbird, Abyssinian ground hornbill, African shrike flycatcher, African penduline tit, cassin’s hawk eagle, grey cuckoo shrike, black headed paradise flycatcher, speckled mousebird, ashy flycatcher, peregrine falcon, green hylia, cassin’s honeyguide, blue breasted bee eater, latham’s francolin, African black duck, stripe breasted tit, African grey woodpecker, white necked raven, eastern mountain greenbul.
Lemon dove, white spotted flufftail, little greenbul, buff spotted flufftail, golden crowned woodpecker, tripocal boubou, lizard buzzard, laughing dove, yellow rumped tinkerbird, little egret, olive woodpecker, African stonechat, scaly throated honeyguide, white rumped swift, speckled pigeon, village weaver, brown crowned tchagra, klaas’s cuckoo, black throated wattle eye, African paradise flycatcher, red knobbed coot, northern black flycatcher, alpine swift, white browed crombec, African marsh harrier, chinspot batis.
Red faced woodland warbler, black and white mannikin, blue shouldered robin chat, white chinned prinia, brown throated wattle eye, red headed malimbe, doherty’s bushshrike, pied cow, snowy crowned robin chat, green crombec, African dusky flycatcher, black goshawk, black crowned tchagra, white starred robin, white winged black kit, Baglafecht weaver, dusky blue flycatcher, cardinal woodpecker, bronze mannikin, African palm swift, dusky kit, and shikra to mention but a few.
When should one go bird watching in Rwenzori Mountains National Park?
birding in different national parks of Uganda including Rwenzori Mountains National Park is best done from November to April. This is because there is plenty of food for birds in the park, it’s a breeding season for some bird species and it’s the time migratory birds are within the park. Birders visiting the park in this season get an opportunity to see lots of bird species.
Tourists who do birding in November, March, and May should know that they will find a lot of rainfall within the park. The rainfall supports too much growth of vegetation and this can lead to unclear views of bird species, it also makes the birding trails muddy and slippery limiting birders access to some of the park areas.