The birds of Mount Elgon national park

The birds of Mount Elgon national park: Mount Elgon national park is one of the national parks of Uganda located on the eastern side of the country in Mbale district. Mount Elgon national park was gazetted in 1992 as a national park by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Today, the national park of Mount Elgon covers a total area of 1110 square kilometers on the Uganda side and 169 square kilometers on the Kenya side.

The birds of Mount Elgon national park are about 300 and about 40 bird species are restricted to the area. 56 of the 87 afro tropical highland biome species are found within Mount Elgon national park. Mount Elgon national park has a very high number of bird species making it one of the best birding regions in eastern Uganda.

List of birds of Mount Elgon national park

The birds of Mount Elgon national park European bee-eater, red-chested cuckoo, cassin’s hawk-eagle, yellow-billed barbet, African wood owl, grey-throated barbet, moustached tinkerbird, tambourine dove, speckled mousebird, yellow-rumped tinkerbird, mountain buzzard, double toothed barbet, Nyanza swift, barn owl, red chested owlet, hadada ibis, narina trogon, rufous necked wryneck, white stork, grey crowned crane, cardinal woodpecker, lanner falcon, black goshawk, ross’s turaco.

Black and white casqued hornbill, rameron pigeon, doherty’s bushshrike, African paradise flycatcher, grey cuckoo shrike, black-throated wattle eye, little bee-eater, cinnamon chested bee-eater, black-tailed oriole, crowned hornbill, augur buzzard, purple throated cuckoo shrike, red fronted parrot, white-headed wood hoopoe, tropical boubou, grey-backed fiscal, white-bellied tit, brown crowned tchagra, pied cow, northern fiscal.

Common scimitarbill, African blue flycatcher, peregrine falcon, northern crombec, hartlaub’s turaco, blue spotted wood dove, African penduline tit, black cuckoo, western crested guineafowl, black-throated apalis, green-backed camaroptera, mountain yellow warbler, ring-necked dove, scaly spurfowl, hunter’s cisticola, chubb’s cisticola, African emerald cuckoo, mosque swallow, ayres’s hawk-eagle, rock martin.

Meyer’s parrot, mountain illadopsis, elgon francolin, Abyssinian thrush, red-eyed dove, African thrush, sharpe’s starling, African black-headed oriole, chinspot batis, northern yellow white eye, white-necked raven, red-winged starling, buff throated apalis, red-billed oxpecker, African dusky flycatcher, waller’s starling, common bulbul, pale flycatcher, red-rumped swallow, brown woodland warbler, oriole finch.

Grey wagtail, brown-capped weaver, northern double-collared sunbird, Abyssinian crimsonwing, western yellow wagtail, variable sunbird, baglafecht weaver, slender-billed greenbul, white-eyed slaty flycatcher, kandt’s waxbill, brimstone canary, pin tailed whydah, cinnamon black warbler, white-browed robin chat, yellow whiskered greenbul, bronze sunbird, Eurasian blackcap, collared sunbird, moorland chat, spotted flycatcher.

Chestnut throated apalis, golden breasted bunting, grey apalis, white-headed sawing, Angola swallow, western house martin, red-cheeked cordonbleu, mountain wagtail, eastern mountain greenbul, black and white mannikin, cape robin chat, thick-billed seedeater, red-capped robin chat, streaky seedeater, northern grey-headed sparrow, white starred robin, green-headed sunbird, African stonechat, malachite sunbird, black-billed weaver, African pied wagtail, yellow-crowned canary.

When is the best period to see the birds of Mountain Elgon national park?

Tourists can see birds of Mount Elgon national park at any time of the year however the months from November to April are the best to visit the park. These months are when the park has a high population of birds and this is because of the migratory birds which come from Europe and Asia. During these months, birders will be able to see so many bird species (migratory and permanent).

Tourists can still carry out bird watching in the dry season when the park is receiving plenty of sunshine. Tourists can see as many bird species as they can during the dry season because they will be having access to most of the park areas unlike during the rainy season. The vegetation during the dry season is short therefore tourists will have clear views of the different bird species of Mount Elgon national park.