Birds of East Africa

Birds of East Africa: Uganda is blessed with an array of unique birds of east Africa and others are migratory birds. Uganda has over 1010 species of birds which you will enjoy during the Uganda birding safari. Most of the birds are found in the national parks of Uganda which act as the biggest habitats for the birds in Uganda. The birding safari in Uganda is a chance for you to also marvel at a number of wild animals in the national parks, the forests and along the water edges.

Birds of East Africa, Species of birds in Africa

Nightjars and allies

Order: Caprimulgiformes   Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is camouflaged to resemble bark or leaves.

• Pennant-winged nightjar,
• Standard-winged nightjar,
• Eurasian nightjar,
• Sombre nightjar,
• Black-shouldered nightjar,
• Abyssinian nightjar,
• Rwenzori nightjar,
• Swamp nightjar,
• Plain nightjar,
• Freckled nightjar,
• Bates’s nightjar,
• Long-tailed nightjar,
• Slender-tailed nightjar,
• Square-tailed nightjar,

Swifts

Order: Caprimulgiformes   Family: Apodidae

Swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang.

• Mottled spinetail,
• Sabine’s spinetail,
• Cassin’s spinetail,
• Scarce swift,
• Alpine swift,
• Mottled swift,
• Common swift,
• Nyanza swift,
• Pallid swift,
• African swift,
• Little swift,
• Horus swift,
• White-rumped swift,
• African palm-swift,

Plovers and lapwings

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Charadriidae

The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings. They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water.

• Black-bellied plover,
• Pacific golden-plover,
• Long-toed lapwing,
• Spur-winged plover,
• Black-headed lapwing,
• White-headed lapwing,
• Senegal lapwing,
• Crowned lapwing,
• Wattled lapwing,
• Brown-chested lapwing,
• Lesser sand-plover,
• Greater sand-plover,
• Caspian plover,
• Kittlitz’s plover,
• Kentish plover,
• Common ringed plover,
• Little ringed plover,
• Three-banded plover,
• Forbes’s plover,
• White-fronted plover,

Sandpipers and allies

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers, and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Variation in length of legs and bills enables multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.

• Whimbrel,
• Eurasian curlew,
• Bar-tailed godwit,
• Black-tailed godwit,
• Ruddy turnstone,
• Ruff,
• Broad-billed sandpiper,
• Curlew sandpiper,
• Temminck’s stint,
• Sanderling,
• Dunlin,
• Little stint,
• Jack snipe,
• Great snipe,
• Common snipe,
• African snipe,
• Terek sandpiper,
• Red-necked phalarope,
• Common sandpiper,
• Green sandpiper,
• Spotted redshank,
• Common greenshank,
• Marsh sandpiper,
• Wood sandpiper,
• Common redshank