Trip Report For 26 Day Birding Safari Uganda

I am here to give you my trip report for 26 Day birding safari Uganda and this trip a private tailor-made bird watching tour Uganda. It was a glance around the different attractions in the country. Some of the areas visited are not usually visited by the international birders on safaris to Uganda.

I flew direct from Nairobi using Kenya Airways to Entebbe. Its was a very short flight and it arrived and left on time.

While planning this trip, I considered a number of companies and guides and later I settled for Africa Adventure Vacations with their guide Paul Tamwenya (https://africanbirdingtrips.com/). Paul was an excellent guide for both savanna and forest birds. The driving skill, persistence and patience was overwhelming.

Our bird count on this safari was 612 species with 187 of these were lifers. This is the highest number of bird species I have ever had on a single safari. Before this trip, Kenya and Peru were my best. The time we did this trip, the migrants had largely left, so 612 species was a high number of resident birds and it can even be 800 species depending on your luck.

We saw most of the birds that were priority on my wish list, like the Shoebill, Grauer’s Broadbill, Black-breasted Barbet (three at Kidepo Valley National Park), Green-breasted Pitta, Fox’s Weaver and Karamoja Apalis plus a whole host of excellent birds.

The heard only birds were Nahan’s Partridge, the African Wood Owl, the Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Swamp Nightjar and the Ituri Batis, with the African Wood Owl and Swamp Nightjar but I have seen it before.

I did this trip at the end of May which is also the end of the rainy season and its not usually a typical timing for birding. Most birding trips in Uganda happen during June and August. My trip timing is however good for birds that are breeding and nesting. The weather generally during this timing is good and its not typically a rainy season. Some days are sunny and other are wet. Birding after the rain is also a good experience.

Mountain Gorillas are rare animals that are highly south after in Uganda. The permits to see these gorillas are $700 and the chimpanzees are $200. On my safaris, this wasn’t of much interest and therefore I didn’t see the gorillas and the chimps. If you are very lucky, you will see the chimps on a birding trail in Kibaale Forest National Park.

Birding in Uganda

For most birders coming to Africa, Uganda is one of the not to miss birding destinations with the rare shoebill as one of the most sought-after birds. Uganda has a good road network with lost of works going on, but there are also some terrible roads as well.

Uganda has ten national parks: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Rwenzori Mountains National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park, Kibale National Park, Mount Elgon National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, and Semuliki National Park.

The main attractions of Uganda are in forest and swamps. Uganda has one endemic bird species. The fox’s weaver is found in the wetlands of Soroti in eastern Uganda.

The destructions of the forests and wetland in eastern Uganda in search of firewood and draining the wetlands for cattle fields and other things has made the fox’s weaver harder to locate as the habitant. This bird has not had any significant sighting since 2010. Chances of seeing this bird were minimal on this safari.

Some people on a birding safari in Uganda will spot the Northern Brown-throated Weaver instead and mistake it for the fox’s weaver.

During this trip, I visit nine national parks out of the ten. Its only Mount Elgon that I didn’t visit. I went to the are Kidepo Valley National Park. One of the reasons was to see the only endemic bird of Uganda.

This trip ran from Entebbe through south western Uganda to Semuliki and then Murchison through to the northern part of the country to Kidepo and then back to Kampala through Soroti.

Sometimes the birding would get touch and we were soaked this season being a rainy one. Usually, it would rain and we would stop and continue after the rain. The slipper and muddy trails in the forest would make it hard after the rain but it would also make the experience would be great. Sometimes we would get stuck but we would always have rescue cars and then retrieve the care the next day.

The Albertine rift covers Uganda, Rwanda, DRC, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends to the end of Lake Albert on the northern end and down to the southern end of Lake Tanganyika.

Albertine Rift

There are about 26 of the 42 Albertine rift endemics that occurs in Uganda all depending on the taxonomy used. Here are the birds listed before:

Handsome Francolin (Francolinus nobilis)

Grauer’s Broadbill (Pseudocalyptomena graueri)

Red-throated Alethe (Alethe poliophrys)

Dwarf Honeyguide (Indicator pumilio)

Rwenzori Batis (Batis diops)

Montane Nightjar (Caprimulgus poliocephalus)

Willard’s Sooty Boubou (Laniarius willardi) – recent split from Mountain Sooty Boubou (Laniarius poensis) and not recognised by some taxonomies

Stripe-breasted Tit (Parus fasciiventer)

Archer’s Robin-Chat (Cossypha anomala)

Purple-breasted Sunbird (Nectarinia purpureiventris)

Regal Sunbird (Cinnyris regia)

Kivu Ground Thrush (Geokichla piaggiae tanganicae) – IOC lumps this with Abyssinian

Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris stuhlmanni)

Strange Weaver (Ploceus alienus)

Dusky Crimson-wing (Cryptospiza jacksoni)

Shelley’s Crimson-wing (Cryptospiza shelleyi)

Mountain Masked Apalis (Apalis personata)

Rwenzori Apalis (Apalis rwenzori)

Ground Thrush (Geokichla piaggiae)

Neumann’s Warbler (Hemitesia neumanni)

Red-faced Woodland Warbler (Phylloscopus laetus)

Lagden’s Bush-shrike (Malaconotus lagdeni)

Rwenzori Turaco (Tauraco Johnston)

Rwenzori Nightjar (Carrimulugus poliocephalus rwenzorii) – IOC lumps this with

Grauer’s Swamp Warbler (Bradypterus graueri)

Grauer’s Warbler (Graueria vittata)

Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher (Melaenornis ardesiacus)

Blue-headed Sunbird (Cyanomitra alinae)

I saw 20 of the 26 Albertine rift endemics that occur in Uganda. This shows how much this trip was a success thanks to Africa Adventure Vacations.

Resources

The most common and available resources available are “Birds of East Africa” by Stevenson and Fanshawe, published in 2002, you can use the most updated version.

Despite having “Birds of East Africa” field guide with me, its also good to use and have the iPhone app for this field guide book. You can also have the app by Robert for southern Africa to give you a comparison. The field guide “Birds of Africa South of the Sahara” was also a useful reference guide.

The small book “Where to Watch Birds in Uganda” by Rossouw and Sacchi, published in 1998, is useful for trip planning and for reading on tour. It is a bit out of date but still a very useful reference.

Trip Report

Thursday 3^rd May: Nairobi to Entebbe

Flew on KQ arriving in Entebbe at 14:30 after an-hour’s flight from Nairobi. I didn’t have any problems with passport control. The yellow fever certificate is a must and my 30-day tourist visa was approved (US$50) was issued on arrival.

A guide by Africa Adventure Vacations, Paul Tamwenya, met me at the airport. We then headed to the airport. After check in, we went birding at the Entebbe botanical gardens. There highlight here were: Great Blue Turaco, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Ross’s Turaco, Eastern Plantain-eater, Orange Weaver, African Grey Parrot, Black-headed Gonolek, Yellow-throated Leaflove, and Grey-headed Nigrita.

Overnight stay at Papyrus Guesthouse which is humble but very good accommodation facility.

Friday 4^th May: Mabamba Swamp to Lake Mburo National Park

We went Mabamba Swamp in the early morning in search for the shoebill. There are very many special birds here and we spent about 3 hours here and we have a chance to see the shoebill up-close. Other special birds we saw included: Lesser Jacana, Blue-headed Coucal, Blue-breasted Bee-eater and African Blue Flycatcher.

After this we continued to Lake Mburo National Park with a stop over at the Equator where we had our lunch and later drove to lake Mburo arriving at around 5pm. During this day, we had several birding stop overs. We did late evening birding in lake Mburo national Park. Here are some of the species we saw: Rüppell’s Vulture, Ross’s Turaco, Brown Babbler, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Spot-flanked Barbet, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Black Bishop and Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu. Overnight stay in Mburo was at Arcadia Safari Cottages.

Saturday 5^th May: Lake Mburo National Park to Kisoro

We did a boat cruise on the Lake Mburo and we saw the rare African Finfoot. In the afternoon, we did birding around the park.

The most common birds here were Grey Kestrel, Long-tailed Cisticola, Black-lored Babbler, Trilling Cisticola, Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher and White-winged Black Tit.

The most common birds here were Grey Kestrel, Long-tailed Cisticola, Black-lored Babbler, Trilling Cisticola, Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher and White-winged Black Tit.

Our biggest sighting was the Red-faced Barbet which is one of the most south after in Lake Mburo National Park.

Later in the afternoon, we continued to drive to Kisoro. Just before Kisoro we sighted the Ruaha Chat, this occurs mostly in Tanzania and has not been split from the Arnot’s Chat.

We had a stopover at the Echuya Forest and we sighted the Mountain Buzzard, Mountain Oriole, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, and Mountain Yellow Warbler. We had booked a stay at the Kisoro Travelers Hotel for two nights and the meals were good just like the accommodation.

Sunday 6^th May: Birding Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

This National Park is located in Kisoro in the southern west part of Uganda and its home to three Volcanic mountains: Mt. Muhavura (4,127m), Mt. Gahinga (3,474m), and Mt. Sabinyo (3,645m).

The Park derives in Name from one of these volcanic mountains; Mount Mgahinga. Mgahinga is also from the Kinyarwanda word “Gahinga” which means “Pile of volcanic lava stone heaps where cultivation is carried out”. This national park was gazzetted in 1992 to protect the rare gorillas and the golden monkeys.

Due to the altitude, the birding was a bit slow as we tried to move through the bamboo forests, this being a rainy season, the trails were also slippery and we have to be slow and careful. The birding trail goes up to the 2,700m in elevation.

We went to the gorge where the Shelley’s Crimsonwing is usually sighted. We managed to see the bird fly past us but we didn’t have enough time to clearly identify the bird. This bird is so shy and its hard to take a picture of it.

We sightednthe: Rwenzori Turaco (with photos), Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird, Regal Sunbird, Strange Weaver, Dusky Crimsonwing,  Abyssinian Thrush (split from Olive Thrush), Archer’s Ground Robin, Blue-headed Sunbird, Rwenzori Batis, Mountain Masked Apalis, Rwenzori Hill Babbler,  Mackinnon’s Shrike, Stripe-breasted Tit, Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, Evergreen Forest Warbler, Kandt’s Waxbill (split from Black-headed Waxbill), Western Citril and Yellow-crowned Canary.

On our birding trails we managed to see the special Golden Monkeys, then the Mantled Guereza and Black-fronted Duiker. The Duikers are also very shy antelopes and usually difficult to see.

Monday 7^th May: Kisoro to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Ruhija sector)

After our early morning breakfast, we left Kisoro for Ruhija sector in Bwindi impenetrable National Park. We had a birding stop over at Echuya forest reserve and it after an hour that managed to see the Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo.

Other forest bird here included: Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, White-browed Crombec, Chubb’s Cisticola, Green-headed Sunbird, Regal Sunbird, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher, Rwenzori Apalis and Black-crowned Waxbill.

We did more birding a lot the road to Bwindi Np till we got to our accommodation. Other birds on the route were: Handsome Francolin, the Black-billed Turaco, Grey-throated Barbet, Stuhlmann’s Starling, Sharpe’s Starling, Western Tinkerbird, Chestnut-throated Apalis and Rwenzori Hill Babbler.

In the evening afte rchacking into our accommodation, we did some birding and we got the sighting of the Rwenzori Nightjar which was also heard calling in flight.

 

We stayed Trekker’s Tavern for two nights which had spacious accommodation and good meals.

Tuesday 8^th May: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Ruhija sector)

We went to the Uganda wildlife offices in the morning to check in and get a briefing as well as have an armed ranger. We took a short walk into the forest before it rained for like 45 minutes. We later headed back to the accommodation. We had managed to see the Pink-footed Puffback, Blue-headed Sunbird, Rwenzori Apalis and Brown-capped Weaver.

After the rained cleared after mid-day, the sun was out again and we went back birding. We did birding along the accommodation facility and we managed to see the Honeyguide, Slender-billed Starling, White-chinned Prinia, Green-headed Sunbird and Yellow-bellied Waxbill.

It had rained the previous day and we didn’t do a lot of birding. So, on this day, we went back to the wildlife Authority office and we got an armed ranger again. This day had excellent birding. We found at least three Grauer’s Broadbill and observed them nest building.

Wednesday 9^th May: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Ruhija and the Neck sectors)

In the Mubwindi Swamp we managed to see the Grauer’s Swamp Warbler and Carruthers’s Cisticola, both of which are difficult birds to get in Uganda.

The other birds we saw are: Doherty’s Bushshrike and Lagden’s Bushshrike, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Dwarf Honeyguide, Grey Cuckooshrike, Banded Prinia, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Petit’s Cuckooshrike, Dusky Tit, Black-throated Apalis, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Waller’s Starling and Strange Weaver.

We were very lucky to see a mountain gorilla on our way back from the birding trail. They were not so close but we managed to see them.

We have our lunch and later drove to the Buhoma sector of the Bwindi National Park. On our way, we stopped at the “The Neck”. We managed to sight the Blue Malkoha, Black Bee-eater (this is one of the top ten birds of Uganda), Slender-billed Starling, Speckled Tinkerbird, Purple-headed Starling, Western Yellow Wagtail and Streaky Seedeater.

We were booked into Haven lodge Buhoma for two nights.

Thursday 10^th May: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Buhoma sector)

Just like in Ruhija, we had our breakfast and headed to the park head quarters to be cleared and also pick up two armed rangers then we headed out to the muddy track. We started with sights of the L’Hoest’s Monkey, Red-tailed Monkey, and Black-fronted Duiker along the trail.

We did some good birding on this day before it started raining unlike the other day in Ruhija. We waited for sometime in the heavy rain but later decided to go back to the UWA offices. When it stopped raining, we headed out birding again.

Here are some of the species we met on our after rain birding: Bar-tailed Trogon, Black Bee-eater, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Lühder’s Bushshrike, Ansorge’s Greenbul, Plain Greenbul, Mountain Illadopsis, Dusky-blue Flycatcher, Grey-winged Robin-Chat, Little Green Sunbird, Grey-chinned Sunbird, Red-headed Malimbe, Bocage’s Bushshrike, Little Greenbul, Toro Olive Greenbul, Cabanis’s Greenbul, Green Crombec, Green Hylia, Buff-throated Apalis, Olive-green Camaroptera, Red-tailed Greenbul, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Red-throated Alethe, Equatorial Akalat, Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, Grey-headed Sunbird, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Tullberg’s Woodpecker, Elliot’s Woodpecker, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Many-colored Bushshrike, Petit’s Cuckooshrike, Western Oriole, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Kakamega Greenbul, Black-billed Weaver and Jameson’s Antpecker.

Over the years Bwindi has always been a birder’s haven with diverse bird species, tree, mammals, butterflies and plants. Bwindi has bird count of about 350 species, 120 mammals and 400 plant species.

Friday 11^th May: Queen Elizabeth National Park (Ishasha sector)

We drove from Buhoma sector of the Bwindi National Park to the Ishasha sector of the Queen Elizabeth National Park. It’s two hours’ drive and this is relatively short compared to the other drives we had had before. We did bird for the rest of the day after arrival to the national park. Some of my new birds here were: Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Singing Cisticola, Nubian Woodpecker, Red-faced Cisticola and Yellow-throated Longclaw.

We sighted about 90 bird species in a space of 6 hours. Here are some of them: Red-necked Spurfowl, Palm-nut Vulture, Fan-tailed Grassbird, Stout Cisticola, Short-winged Cisticola, Black-lored Babbler, Black Bee-eater, Western Banded Snake Eagle, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, White-headed Barbet, Double-toothed Barbet, Marsh Tchagra, Moustached Grass Warbler, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Black-winged Red Bishop and Fawn-breasted Waxbill.

We stayed at Pumba safari Lodge for two nights.

Saturday 12^th May: Queen Elizabeth National Park

We did full day birding on this day and we did an afternoon boat launch on the Kazinga channel that joins Lake George and Lake Edward. We had a sighting of about 135 species on this day and some good game.

Some of the biggest highlights are: African Crake, Western Black-headed Batis, Short-tailed Pipit, the Black-bellied Bustard, eight White Stork getting ready to migrate, White-tailed Lark, Angolan Swallow, Grey-rumped Swallow, Senegal Lapwing, Temminck’s Courser (top bird of the day), Red-throated Bee-eater, Swamp Flycatcher, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, Long-billed Pipit, Holub’s Golden Weaver and Black-chinned Quail finch.

Sunday 13^th May: Birding Queen Elizabeth National Park to Semuliki National Park

We did early morning birding within the Queen Elizabeth National Park on our way out. By lunch time we were in Fort Portal and we had lunch before heading to Semuliki National Park.

We saw the Black Coucal in the morning to start of the day. We also sighted the papyrus Gonolek near Lake George. He also saw the Piapiac, our first on this trip. As we headed north, we saw a lot more of them.

Semuliki National Park is a swampy forest on the banks of River Semuliki on the boarder of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The area lies at a very low altitude of about 700m above sea level.

Semuliki National Park is home to about 35 Guinea Congo Biome endemics. Some of our sightings here were:

Spot-breasted Ibis, Hartlaub’s Duck, Congo Serpent Eagle, Chestnut-flanked Goshawk, Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, Zenker’s Honeyguide, African Piculet, Gabon Woodpecker, White-throated Blue Swallow, Yellow-throated Nicator, Northern Bearded Scrub-robin, Lowland Akalat, Long-tailed Hawk, Nkulengu Rail, Black-throated Coucal, Chestnut Owlet, Bates’s Nightjar, Lyre-tailed Honeyguide, Grey Ground Thrush, Fiery-breasted Bush-shrike, Red-eyed Puffback, Black-wattled Hornbill, Palm Swamp Greenbul, Simple Greenbul, Eastern Bearded Greenbul, Sassi’s Olive Greenbul, White-crested Hornbill, Black Dwarf Hornbill, Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Spotted Honeyguide, Black-winged Oriole, Maxwell’s Black Weaver, Blue-billed Malimbe and Grant’s Bluebill.

Some of the special species with rare sighting here were: Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Capuchin Babbler, Blue-headed Flycatcher, Piping Hornbill, Red-sided Broadbill, Xavier’s Greenbul, Yellow Longbill, Red-billed Helmetshrike, Crested Malimbe, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Pale-fronted Ant pecker and Chestnut-breasted Nigrita.

During my trip I saw 8 species of the 35 West African specialties and 6 species of the 12 species with limited sighting in East Africa.

The Afternoon drive around Semuliki National Park Produced sighting of African Marsh Harrier, Ross’s Turaco, Cabanis’s Bunting, Black-billed Barbet, Whistling Cisticola, Cardinal Quelea, Black Bishop and Black-crowned Waxbill.

We stayed at the UWA Banda for three nights. Its basic accommodation.

Monday 14^th May: Semuliki National Park

The Semuliki forest national park is a swampy area and despite the dry or wet season, it is most likely going to be soggy. With the help of the UWA armed ranger and a local guide together with the expertise of Paul Tamwenya, we dived into the forest of the birding of that day.

Our species for this day were: Brown-eared Woodpecker, Jameson’s Wattle-eye, Lowland Sooty Boubou, Western Nicator, Yellow-throated Nicator, Blue-throated Roller, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Red-tailed Greenbul, Zenker’s Honeyguide (very rare in Uganda), Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, Blue-billed Malimbe, Xavier’s Greenbul, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Olive-green Camaroptera, Forest Scrub Robin, White-crested Hornbill, Black-casqued Hornbill, Piping Hornbill, Yellow-billed Barbet, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Crested Malimbe and Chestnut-breasted Nigrita.

For myself, the bird of the day was briefly seeing a pair of the beautiful Hartlaub’s Duck perched on a branch over the stream where we stopped for lunch. These are very skittish ducks and they flew off before I had a chance to get a photo. We had been looking for these ducks for most of the morning with no luck.

I saw the De Brazza’s Monkey, the first ones of this trip.

Tuesday 15^th May: Semuliki National Park

We headed back to the forest for more birding but returned to the park headquarters for lunch and after lunch we did birding around our accommodation area.

Our morning birding produces sights of the Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Simple Greenbul, Red-tailed Greenbul, juvenile Crowned Eagle on nest, Xavier’s Greenbul, Forest Robin (Eastern), Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, Crested Malimbe, Black-necked Weaver, Chestnut-breasted Nigrita, Black-bellied Firefinch, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher and Orange-cheeked Waxbill (hasn’t been recorded in Uganda according to the guide books)

We visited the hot springs in the morning shortly near the park headquarters. We than drove backwards to Fort Portal on our way to Kibaale Forest National Park.We spotted a pair of adult Western Bronze-naped Pigeon on the afternoon birding trail. These are very beautiful and attractive birds.

Wednesday 16^th May: Semuliki to Kibaale Forest National Park

We reached Kibaale forest National Park at around 11am and we did some simple birding before we checked into our accommodation. Paul was able to spot the Hairy-breasted Barbet, African Finfoot flushed from a small river, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Cassin’s Flycatcher and Slender-billed Weaver.

He had our lunch and then headed to the Bigodi Swamp for the afternoon birding.

The Swamp is managed by the community to protect it from encroachment. We saw the Ugandan red colobus monkey and it was one of the highlights of the afternoon.

We heard the White-spotted Flufftail singing in a distance but we never saw it actually but I had seen one in Kenya before.

We stayed at Kibaale Homestay for two nights. The accommodation was great and the food was excellent.

Thursday 17^th May: Kibaale Forest National Park.

This day was one of the most anticipated days on my safari. We were to look for the special and rare green breasted Pitta. There are two Pittas occurring in Africa, the Green-breasted Pitta and the African Pitta which I saw in Mozambique.

As one trip report said, “The Green-breasted Pitta is one of Africa’s most difficult and sought-after birds, and seeing one is a top highlight in any lifetime of birding.”

I wanted two must see bird on my safari, the shoebill and Green-breasted Pitta.

The green breasted pitta occurs at an altitude of between 1,100 and 1,400 meters. There have been sightings in Budongo and Mabira forest. Kibaale National Park is the best place to see this Pitta.

The Green Breasted Pittas has however not been seen in Kibaale Between March and May. It usually calls in the months of June and August. Some birders take about 10 hours each day for two days to just look for the Pitta. Seeing the Pitta depends a lot on luck.

Our search for the Pitta started at 6.30am as usual with an armed ranger and a local bird Guide with my expert Paul Tamwenya. We walked down into the forest for about 3 hours but the forest was so quiet.

We took a break at around 9.30am and the ranger was almost giving up. We later headed to the pitta territories, area Paul and the local guide has seen the pitta in the past. At around 10am, Paul had the Pitta calling. It was a bit late as usually the Pitta comes out at sunrise.

We were lucky that we got two pittas calling out loudly and the forest was quiet enough for us to track it. We headed off the track into the forest to look for them. Despite them calling out loudly, the Pittas were still had to locate.

I got a sight of the Pitta briefly as it launched from the branch of the tree down to the forest slopes. The ranger who had also not seen the Pitta before also got a chance to see it, thanks to Paul Tamwenya.

We then went back to our lodge with just four species seen in about 5 hours of birding in the Kibaale Forests. But the morning was basically about the search of the Pitta and we had succeeded.

In the afternoon, we did some birding on the road in Kibaale and managed to see: Mottled Spinetail, Cassin’s Flycatcher, Chestnut-winged Starling, Narrow-tailed Starling, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, African Grey Parrot, Tiny Sunbird, Black Bee-eater, Blue-throated Roller, Yellow-crested Woodpecker,  Red-headed Malimbe and White-breasted Nigrita.

We managed to see troops of Chimpanzees, Grey-cheeked Mangabey and Ugandan Red Colobus.

Friday 18^th May: Kibale Forest National Park to Masindi

We drove in the morning from Kibaale Forest National Park to Masindi which would be our launch spot to Budongo forest the next day. We saw African Forest elephants as soon as we got onto the road from Kibaale.

On our way, we did some birding on the way. Here are some of the species we saw:

Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle, Lühder’s Bushshrike, Low land Masked Apalis, Afep Pigeon, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo (heard only), Cassin’s Flycatcher and White-collared Oliveback.

In the afternoon on the road to Hoima we had White-thighed Hornbill, Black-throated Wattle-eye, White-throated Bee-eater, Spotted Greenbul, Western Citril, the only Red-headed Lovebird of the trip, yellow-shouldered race of the Yellow-mantled Widowbird and Village Indigobird.

We got to Masindi at around 6pm and we were booked into New Court View Hotel which had good accommodation and meals.

Saturday 19^th May: Royal Mile – Budongo Forest

We headed to Budongo forest and met up with a local guide. The trail was muddy and slippery. Paul is an excellent driver; we went through the mad without getting stuck. The car kept going sideways at times but he was in control.

The Royal mile in Budongo forest is one of the best and top birding destinations in Uganda. We had a slow start to our birding. After 2km of birding, we managed to her the Nathan’s Partridge calling but didn’t see it. Later that morning we saw and also managed to photograph the Uganda Woodland Warbler visiting a nest at the base of a large tree.

At the end of the Royal Mile, we sighted the African Dwarf Kingfisher perched on an bush next to the road and I got chance to take some pictures.

Later that afternoon, our birding produced the Chocolate-backed Kingfisher which had been calling but was being very elusive.

The species we saw that day incuded: Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo (seen this time), White-thighed Hornbill, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Willcocks’s Honeyguide, Little Grey Greenbul, White-throated Greenbul, Grey Longbill (heard only), Green Hylia, Cabanis’s Bunting, Red-headed Malimbe, White-breasted Nigrita, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Ituri Batis (heard only), Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Brown-eared Woodpecker feeding young at nest, Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, Fire-crested Alethe, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Superb Sunbird, Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Grey-headed Oliveback and Red-headed Bluebill.

Sunday 20^th May: Murchison Falls National Park – Kaniyo Pabidi Forest

In the morning, we drove to the southern part of the park. It was a short drive from Masindi. Along the way, we managed to see the Black-crowned Tchagra, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Black Bishop, Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, Black-winged Red Bishop and Yellow-mantled Widowbird.

When we got to Kaniyo Pabidi forest, we went in search for the Puvel’s Illadopsis which was calling and was eventually seen walking quietly on the ground.

During the drive in the morning around the park, we managed to see Red-throated Bee-eater, Red-winged Pytilia, White-throated Bee-eater, African Grey Woodpecker and Bar-breasted Firefinch.

We later drove to the top of the falls to experience the beautiful scenes of these falls. The Nile River is forced through a 7m gap and drops 43m, with an average flow of about 300 cumecs, although we had high water levels during our visit being at the end of the wet season. We had a single Rock Pratincole at the top of the falls.

Our lunch was at Red Chili as we also did some simple birding. Here are some of the species we saw: Had Spotted Palm Thrush, White-browed Robin-Chat, White-fronted Black Chat, White-headed Saw-wing, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Speckle-fronted Weaver and Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Black Coucal, Silverbird, Red-winged Grey Warbler, African Grey Hornbill and several cuckoos.

Our after-lunch birding produced the Vinaceous Dove, Black-billed Wood Dove, Tambourine Dove, Brown Babbler, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Greyish Eagle-Owl, Long-tailed Nightjar, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Beautiful Sunbird, Red-winged Pytilia and Bar-breasted Firefinch.

We had our accommodation at Red Chili Safari Lodge for two nights.

Monday 21^st May: Murchison Falls NP – Northern

We took an early morning drive to catch the ferry to cross to the northern sector of the national park. We did a morning game drive to see other animals and later in the afternoon we did the boat cruise to the bottom of the falls.

For the first time on the very many safaris that I had this plenty of wildlife in a game drive, and we saw African Bush Elephant, Uganda Kob, African Buffalo, Burchell’s Zebra, Defassa Waterbuck, Side-striped Jackal, Lelwel Hartebeest (Jackson’s), Rothschild’s Giraffe, Bushbuck, Oribi, Common Warthog, Hippo, Olive Baboon, Patas Monkey and Striped Ground Squirrel during the morning’s trip.For the first time we had large flocks of Piapiac, quite a few Abyssinian Ground Hornbill and plenty of antelope.

Our highlights of the day were: Heuglin’s Francolin, Western Banded Snake Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Buff-bellied Warbler, Senegal Thick-knee, Montagu’s Harrier, Blue-naped Mousebird, at least sixty Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Black-backed Cisticola, Black-headed Lapwing, Black-billed Wood Dove, Shelley’s Sparrow, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Denham’s Bustard, Northern Red Bishop and Black-rumped Waxbill.

The cruise to the bottom of the falls was also very rewarding. We saw the Pel’s Fishing Owl. The reeds on the shores usually house the shoebill. Some good birds were Yellow-billed Stork, Black Coucal, Giant Kingfisher, Black-crowned Night Heron, Rock Pratincole and Red-throated Bee-eater.

We crossed the ferry in the morning again to the northern sector of Murchison falls and we headed out to Kidepo Valley National Park Via Ggulu and Kitgum districts.

Tuesday 22^nd May: Murchison Falls National Park to Kidepo National Park.

Birding on the way produced the Comb Duck and Red-necked Falcon, Red-winged Warbler, Hooded Vulture, Great Spotted Cuckoo,Wahlberg’s Eagle and African Black Swift.

We got to Kidepo Valley National Park at around 4.30pm. The area was slippery as we headed to our accommodation. Here we saw Clapperton’s Francolin, Moustached Grass Warbler, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Blue-headed Coucal, Abyssinian Roller, Fox Kestrel, Northern White-crowned Shrike, Superb Starling, Bronze-tailed Starling and Side-striped Jackal in the camp.

We stayed at the Apoka Bandas for three nights. It was basic accommodation but comfortable with very nice beds.

Wednesday 23^rd May: Kidepo Valley National Park – Narus Valley

We met up a local ranger with vast knowledge about Kidepo Valley National Park. We went birding in the Narus valley till about 2pm. We saw a lot of African Buffalo.

Our morning birding produced over 90 species. Here are some of species we saw White-headed Vulture, Lappet-faced Vulture, Slate-coloured Boubou, D’Arnaud’s Barbet, Meyer’s Parrot, Western Black-headed Batis, Foxy Cisticola, Mocking Cliff Chat, Yellow-billed Shrike, Red-winged Lark, Martial Eagle, White-crested Turaco, Black Coucal, Eurasian Hoopoe (dark Central African race waibeli), White-shouldered Black Tit,  White-bellied Tit, Red-pate Cisticola, Short-winged Cisticola, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Abyssinian Roller, Brown-rumped Bunting and Shelley’s Sparrow.

Our afternoon birding was delayed by rain up to about 3.40pm. We did bird around the camp and managed to sight Shelly’s Sparrow, Chestnut Sparrow, Grey-capped Social Weaver and took some photos of the resident Superb Starling.

Other species were Steppe Eagle, Common Kestrel, Fan-tailed Raven, White-tailed Lark, Peregrine Falcon (African race minor which has darker breast markings than the migrant race calidus), Shikra, African Crake, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, White-bellied Go-away-bird and Swamp Nightjar

Thursday 24^th May: Kidepo Valley National Park – Kidepo Valley

In my introduction, I mentioned that our car had gotten stuck on the day we got to Kidepo. So, on this day, Paul Went to rescue the car and he was back by 9am. We went out birding and started off with sighting the Somali Bunting and the Black-breasted Barbet.

Later when the sun came out, the roads became dried up and we could now drive smoothly. We drive through the park and managed to see more species like Rose-ringed Parakeet, White-crested Helmetshrike, Red-and-yellow Barbet and a few other birds, before I spotted the impressive Black-breasted Barbet perched and Black-breasted Barbet and managed to get photographs.

We continued to find new birds as we made our way to the Kidepo River, which was in flood, and then slowly made our way back to Apoka. The point where we stopped on the Kidepo River was about 50km from the South Sudan border.

We did some evening birding that yielded Swamp Nightjar (heard), Freckled Nightjar, Slender-tailed Nightjar, Greyish Eagle-Owl, Red-pate Cisticola, Verreaux’s Eagle, Hartlaub’s Bustard, Bruce’s Green Pigeon and Fawn-breasted Waxbill.

We had about 100 species of birds his morning. Some of the special ones to note include Abdim’s Stork, Eastern Chanting Goshawk, White-billed Buffalo Weaver, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Little Sparrowhawk, White-bellied Go-away-bird, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Jacobin Cuckoo, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Northern Crombec (race carnapi), Yellow-breasted Apalis, Northern Red-billed Hornbill, Rufous Chatterer, Yellow-spotted Petronia, Jackson’s Hornbill, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Red-headed Weaver and Cut-throat Finch.

Friday 25^th May: Kidepo Valley National Park to Soroti

We headed out of the Kidepo Valley National Park after breakfast. We did about one hour of birding before we went out of the park.

Some of the interesting species to note were Greater Painted-snipe, African Reed Warbler, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Red-billed Oxpecker for the trip, yet many Yellow-billed Oxpecker, White-fronted Black Chat, Red-billed Oxpecker and Black-faced Quailfinch, the Red-billed Oxpecker and the Yellow-billed Oxpecker.

We saw the Verreaux’s Eagle, Lizard Buzzard, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Shikra and Grey Kestrel on our way to Kitgum. At this point of the safari, we had hit the 580 bird species threshold.

Between Lira and Kitgum, we had sightings Woolly-necked Stork, Western Banded Snake Eagle, Marsh Widowbird, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Winding Cisticola, Swamp Flycatcher, African Jacana, Compact Weaver and Yellow-mantled Widowbird.

We had our Night at Soroti Hotel. A very big upgrade compared to the other lodges I had had in the last few days.

Saturday 26^th May: Soroti – Lake Bisina

This was another big day as we went out in search of the Fox’s Weaver. This bird species is difficult to find and is endemic to Uganda.

This weaver usually stays around the edges of the wetlands and Lake Opeta and Lake Bisina is one of the best spots to locate this special birds.

Ref. An intensive survey undertaken in 2015 had failed to locate any Fox’s Weaver (Survey on the Fox’s Weaver, the only Ugandan Endemic bird species by Dianah Nalwanga, Roger Skeen, Michael Opige and Achilles Byaruhanga) and they noted that there had been no reliable sightings since 2010. Thus our chances of finding the Fox’s Weaver were very low.

Most birding visitors to Uganda see the Northern Brown-throated Weaver instead of Fox’s Weaver. This makes some people think that the Fox’s weaver is a myth and doesn’t exist.

Timing is everything and luckily a group of birders from the Uganda Bird Guides Club had located nesting Fox’s Weaver on the previous day. To get to the weaver would require wading in quite deep water through the wetlands, which I didn’t have a problem with. My boots were falling apart and I thought by the end of the day they would be ready to throw away.

Most birders I had read from claimed that the chances of seeing the weaver were about 40% probability.

We headed out with a local guide to Lake Bisina. It has rained and the entire place was flooded. We went deep into the water, about 2 km. It was a great experience as well. We saw the Lesser Jacana, Lesser Moorhen and Allen’s Gallinule.

As we approached the dry land, Paul spotted the Karamoja Apalis and we managed to take good pictures of it. When news of the Karamoja Apalis sighting got out, it started a local twitch for some Ugandan birders.

Immediately after, we sighted the Fox’s weaver in their nest. They were about six in total. They are similar to Speke’s weaver.

The Fox’s weaver has a pale-yellow eye, very heavy bill and yellow crown extends down to bill.

The special sighting for this day were; Lynes’s Cisticola, rusty-brown head and buffy-brown underparts, Abyssinian Roller, Foxy Cisticola,  Fulvous Whistling Duck, Little Bittern, Squacco Heron, Black-chested Snake Eagle, African Marsh Harrier, African Swamphen, Common Moorhen, Striated Heron, Black Coucal, Horus Swift, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Rufous-bellied Heron, Silverbird, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Shelley’s Sparrow and Little Weaver.

We drove to Mbale and Stayed at Mountain Elgon Hotel.

Sunday 27^th May: Mbale to Jinja

In the morning after our breakfast, we drove from Mbale towards Jinja. Between Soroti and Mbale I had some Lifers like Wire-tailed Swallow and Red-winged Starling.

By this time, we had reached 600 bird species. We stopped in several rice plantations and wetlands and we added another lifer to my list, the Red-headed Quelea.

Overnighted at the Sunset hotel in Jinja which was a comfortable hotel with excellent meals.

Monday 28^th May: Mabira Forest to Entebbe

We did bird in Mabira forest for about three hours such that we could rush and beat the jam to Entebbe as I had to fly out that every evening.

The three-hour birding produced White-spotted Flufftail. Other great birds included Forest Wood Hoopoe, the Green-tailed Bristlebill), Toro Olive Greenbul, White-throated Greenbul, Yellow-lored Bristlebill (Bright yellow throat and full yellow undersides with light brown eyes, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Little Green Sunbird, Weyns’s Weaver, Yellow Longbill, Grey Longbill, Chestnut Wattle-eye, Brown Illadopsis, Fire-crested Alethe, Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat (difficult bird to see), Western Nicator, Grey-headed Nigrita and White-breasted Nigrita.

We had anticipated to get to Entebbe a little early but the Jam was crazy and we got there a little after 2pm and my Flight was at 3.30pm. I managed to get through fast enough through all the checks and was in time for my flight.

This trip was a successful one over all despite the highs and lows. I was great full ot the organizing company, Africa Adventure Vacations (https://africanbirdingtrips.com/) the professionalism, skill and experience of my Guide Paul Tamwenya and various local Operators. I was also grate full to Robert who did all the office work at Africa Adventure Vacations.

Mammals

I saw a total of 37 mammal species

Hyracoidea

Elephants (Elephantidae)

African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)

African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana)

Hyraxes (Procaviidae)

Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis)

Proboscidea

Primates

Old World Monkeys (Cercopithecidae)

L’Hoest’s Monkey (Cercopithecus lhoesti)

De Brazza’s Monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus)

Mantled Guereza [sp] (Colobus guereza)

Mantled Guereza [matschiei] (Colobus guereza matschiei)

Uganda Redtailed Guenon (Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti)

Silver Monkey (Cercopithecus doggetti)

Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus kandti)

Vervet Monkey [sp] (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)

Patas Monkey (Erythrocebus patas)

Grey-cheeked Mangabey [sp] (Lophocebus albigena)

Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)

Ugandan Red Colobus (Piliocolobus tephrosceles)

Great Apes, Humans (Hominidae)

Common Chimpanzee [sp] (Pan troglodytes)

Rodentia

Squirrels & Marmots (Sciuridae)

Alexander’s Bush Squirrel (Paraxerus alexandri)

Boehm’s Bush Squirrel [sp] (Paraxerus boehmi)

Striped Ground Squirrel [sp] (Xerus erythropus)

Red-legged Sun Squirrel [sp] (Heliosciurus rufobrachium)

Carnivora

Mongooses (Herpestidae)

Banded Mongoose [sp] (Mungos mungo)

Dogs (Canidae)

Side-striped Jackal [sp] (Canis adustus)

Perissodactyla

Horses (Equidae)

Burchell’s Zebra [sp] (Equus burchellii)

Artiodactyla

Giraffes & Okapi (Giraffidae)

Rothschild’s Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi)

Hippopotamuses (Hippopotamidae)

Common Hippopotamus [sp] (Hippopotamus amphibius)

Pigs (Suidae)

Common Warthog [sp] (Phacochoerus africanus)

Cattle & Spiral-horned Antelope (Bovidae)

African Buffalo [sp] (Syncerus caffer)

East African Eland (Taurotragus oryx pattersonianus)

Bushbuck [sp] (Tragelaphus scriptus)

Topi [sp] (Damaliscus korrigum)

Lelwel Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus lelwel)

Klipspringer [sp] (Oreotragus oreotragus)

Oribi [sp] (Ourebia ourebi)

Black-fronted Duiker [sp] (Cephalophus nigrifrons)

Impala [sp] (Aepyceros melampus)

Common Reedbuck [sp] (Redunca redunca)

Uganda Kob (Kobus kob thomasi)

Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa)

Birds

I managed to sight about 612 birds with 186 of these being lifers and managed to hear but didn’t see 5 species. I have tried to simplify the birds I saw by classifying them as follows: 

ANSERIFORMES

Ducks, Geese and Swans (Anatidae)

Spur-winged Goose (Northern) (Plectropterus gambensis gambensis)

Knob-billed Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos)

Hottentot Teal (Spatula hottentota)

Yellow-billed Duck [ruppelli] (Anas undulata ruppelli)

Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)

White-faced Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata)

Hartlaub’s Duck (Pteronetta hartlaubii)

Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)

White-backed Duck [leuconotus] (Thalassornis leuconotus leuconotus)

GALLIFORMES

New World Quail (Odontophoridae)

Nahan’s Partridge (Ptilopachus nahani)

Stone Partridge [florentiae] (Ptilopachus petrosus florentiae)

Guineafowl (Numididae)

Helmeted Guineafowl (Helmeted) [meleagris] (Numida meleagris meleagris)

Crested Guineafowl (Western) [verreauxi] (Guttera pucherani verreauxi)

Pheasants and allies (Phasianidae)

Crested Francolin (Crested) [grantii] (Dendroperdix sephaena grantii)

Clapperton’s Francolin [gedgii] (Pternistis clappertoni gedgii)

Handsome Francolin (Pternistis nobilis)

Red-necked Spurfowl (Cranch’s) [cranchii] (Pternistis afer cranchii)

Heuglin’s Francolin (Pternistis icterorhynchus)

CICONIIFORMES

Storks (Ciconiidae)

Yellow-billed Stork (Mycteria ibis)

Abdim’s Stork (Ciconia abdimii)

European White Stork (Ciconia ciconia ciconia)

Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer)

African Openbill [lamelligerus] (Anastomus lamelligerus lamelligerus)

Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis)

Woolly-necked Stork (African) (Ciconia episcopus microscelis)

PHOENICOPTERIFORMES

Flamingos (Phoenicopteridae)

Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)

Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)

PELECANIFORMES

Pelicans (Pelecanidae)

Pink-backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens)

Herons, Bitterns (Ardeidae)

Intermediate Egret (Yellow-billed) (Ardea intermedia brachyrhyncha)

Little Egret (Western) (Egretta garzetta garzetta)

Little Bittern (African) (Ixobrychus minutus payesii)

Purple Heron (Purple) [purpurea] (Ardea purpurea purpurea)

Great Egret (African) (Ardea alba melanorhynchos)

Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

Grey Heron (Grey) [cinerea] (Ardea cinerea cinerea)

Black-crowned Night Heron (Eurasian) (Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax)

Striated Heron (Old World) [atricapilla] (Butorides striata atricapilla)

Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)

Rufous-bellied Heron (Ardeola rufiventris)

Black-headed Heron (Ardea melanocephala)

Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath)

Ibises, Spoonbills (Threskiornithidae)

African Spoonbill (Platalea alba)

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

Hadada Ibis [sp] (Bostrychia hagedash)

African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)

Shoebill (Balaenicipitidae)

Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex)

Hamerkop (Scopidae)

Hamerkop [umbretta] (Scopus umbretta umbretta)

SULIFORMES

Anhingas, Darters (Anhingidae)

African Darter [rufa] (Anhinga rufa rufa)

Cormorants, Shags (Phalacrocoracidae)

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus)

Reed Cormorant [africanus] (Microcarbo africanus africanus)

ACCIPITRIFORMES

Ospreys (Pandionidae)

Western Osprey (Eurasian) (Pandion haliaetus haliaetus)

Kites, Hawks and Eagles (Accipitridae)

Black-winged Kite (African) (Elanus caeruleus caeruleus)

Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus)

Wahlberg’s Eagle (Hieraaetus wahlbergi)

Bat Hawk [anderssoni] (Macheiramphus alcinus anderssoni)

White-headed Vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis)

White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus)

Long-crested Eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis)

Little Sparrowhawk [minullus] (Accipiter minullus minullus)

Black Sparrowhawk [melanoleucus] (Accipiter melanoleucus melanoleucus)

African Marsh Harrier (Circus ranivorus)

Brown Snake Eagle (Circaetus cinereus)

Crowned Eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus)

Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus)

Steppe Eagle [orientalis] (Aquila nipalensis orientalis)

Verreaux’s Eagle (Aquila verreauxii)

Eastern Chanting Goshawk (Melierax poliopterus)

Shikra [sphenurus] (Accipiter badius sphenurus)

Black Kite (Black) [migrans] (Milvus migrans migrans)

Yellow-billed Kite [parasitus] (Milvus aegyptius parasitus)

African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer)

Lappet-faced Vulture [tracheliotos] (Torgos tracheliotos tracheliotos)

Black-chested Snake Eagle (Circaetus pectoralis)

Cassin’s Hawk-eagle (Aquila africana)

African Hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster)

Rüppell’s Vulture [rueppelli] (Gyps rueppelli rueppelli)

African Harrier-hawk [typus] (Polyboroides typus typus)

Palm-nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis)

Western Banded Snake Eagle (Circaetus cinerascens)

Bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus)

Mountain Buzzard (Buteo oreophilus)

Augur Buzzard (Buteo augur)

Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus)

Lizard Buzzard [monogrammicus] (Kaupifalco monogrammicus monogrammicus)

Gabar Goshawk [aequatorius] (Micronisus gabar aequatorius)

Dark Chanting Goshawk [metabates] (Melierax metabates metabates)

Secretarybird (Sagittariidae)

Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius)

OTIDIFORMES

Bustards (Otididae)

Denham’s Bustard (Denham’s) (Neotis denhami denhami)

Black-bellied Bustard [melanogaster] (Lissotis melanogaster melanogaster)

Hartlaub’s Bustard (Lissotis hartlaubii)

GRUIFORMES

Cranes (Gruidae)

Grey Crowned Crane [gibbericeps] (Balearica regulorum gibbericeps)

Rails, Crakes and Coots (Rallidae)

African Crake (Crex egregia)

Allen’s Gallinule (Porphyrio alleni)

African Swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis)

Common Moorhen [meridionalis] (Gallinula chloropus meridionalis)

Black Crake (Amaurornis flavirostra)

Lesser Moorhen (Paragallinula angulata)

Flufftails (Sarothruridae)

White-spotted Flufftail (Southern) (Sarothrura pulchra centralis)

Finfoots (Heliornithidae)

African Finfoot [senegalensis] (Podica senegalensis senegalensis)

CHARADRIIFORMES

Stone-curlews, Thick-knees (Burhinidae)

Senegal Thick-knee (Burhinus senegalensis)

Spotted Thick-knee [maculosus] (Burhinus capensis maculosus)

Water Thick-knee [vermiculatus] (Burhinus vermiculatus vermiculatus)

Painted-snipes (Rostratulidae)

Greater Painted-snipe (Rostratula benghalensis)

Sandpipers, Snipes (Scolopacidae)

Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)

Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)

Jacanas (Jacanidae)

Lesser Jacana (Microparra capensis)

African Jacana (Actophilornis africanus)

Stilts, Avocets (Recurvirostridae)

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Gulls, Terns and Skimmers (Laridae)

Grey-headed Gull [poiocephalus] (Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus poiocephalus)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Heuglin’s) (Larus fuscus heuglini)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Baltic) (Larus fuscus fuscus)

Gull-billed Tern (Common) [nilotica] (Gelochelidon nilotica nilotica)

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

Gulls, Terns and Skimmers (Laridae)

Grey-headed Gull [poiocephalus] (Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus poiocephalus)

Gull-billed Tern (Common) [nilotica] (Gelochelidon nilotica nilotica)

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Heuglin’s) (Larus fuscus heuglini)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Baltic) (Larus fuscus fuscus)

Plovers (Charadriidae)

Three-banded Plover (African) (Charadrius tricollaris tricollaris)

Long-toed Lapwing [crassirostris] (Vanellus crassirostris crassirostris)

Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus)

Black-headed Lapwing [tectus] (Vanellus tectus tectus)

Kittlitz’s Plover (Charadrius pecuarius)

Crowned Lapwing [coronatus] (Vanellus coronatus coronatus)

African Wattled Lapwing [sp] (Vanellus senegallus)

Senegal Lapwing (Vanellus lugubris)

Coursers, Pratincoles (Glareolidae)

Collared Pratincole [fuelleborni] (Glareola pratincola fuelleborni)

Temminck’s Courser [temminckii] (Cursorius temminckii temminckii)

Rock Pratincole (White-naped) (Glareola nuchalis nuchalis)

COLUMBIFORMES

Pigeons, Doves (Columbidae)

Rock Dove (Feral) (Columba livia ”feral”)

Tambourine Dove (Turtur tympanistria)

Blue-spotted Wood Dove (Turtur afer)

Tambourine Dove (Turtur tympanistria)

Bruce’s Green Pigeon (Treron waalia)

Laughing Dove [senegalensis] (Spilopelia senegalensis senegalensis)

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove (Turtur chalcospilos)

Black-billed Wood Dove (Turtur abyssinicus)

Western Bronze-naped Pigeon (Columba iriditorques)

Dusky Turtle Dove (Streptopelia lugens)

African Green Pigeon [sp] (Treron calvus)

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove (Turtur chalcospilos)

Black-billed Wood Dove (Turtur abyssinicus)

Speckled Pigeon [guinea] (Columba guinea guinea)

Afep Pigeon (Columba unicincta)

African Olive Pigeon (Columba arquatrix)

Mourning Collared Dove [logonensis] (Streptopelia decipiens logonensis)

Red-eyed Dove (Streptopelia semitorquata)

Ring-necked Dove [tropica] (Streptopelia capicola tropica)

Vinaceous Dove (Streptopelia vinacea)

Bruce’s Green Pigeon (Treron waalia)

African Green Pigeon [sp] (Treron calvus)

Blue-spotted Wood Dove (Turtur afer) 

MUSOPHAGIFORMES

Turacos (Musophagidae)

Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata)

Eastern Plantain-eater (Crinifer zonurus)

White-crested Turaco (Tauraco leucolophus)

White-bellied Go-away-bird (Corythaixoides leucogaster)

Rwenzori Turaco [sp] (Rwenzorornis johnstoni)

Ross’s Turaco (Musophaga rossae Bare-faced Go-away-bird (Black-faced) (Corythaixoides personatus leopoldi)

Black-billed Turaco (Green-rumped) (Tauraco schuettii emini)

CUCULIFORMES

Cuckoos (Cuculidae)

Senegal Coucal [senegalensis] (Centropus senegalensis senegalensis)

Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius)

Levaillant’s Cuckoo (Clamator levaillantii)

Black Coucal (Centropus grillii)

Blue Malkoha [aereus] (Ceuthmochares aereus aereus)

White-browed Coucal [sp] (Centropus superciliosus)

Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius)

Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo (Cercococcyx mechowi)

Black-and-white Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus pica)

Klaas’s Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx klaas)

Yellow-throated Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx flavigularis)

African Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx cupreus)

Blue-headed Coucal [fischeri] (Centropus monachus fischeri)

Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo (Njobo’s) (Cercococcyx montanus montanus)

Black Cuckoo [sp] (Cuculus clamosus)

Red-chested Cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius)

STRIGIFORMES

Owls (Strigidae)

Greyish Eagle-owl (Bubo cinerascens)

African Wood Owl [nuchalis] (Strix woodfordii nuchalis)

Pearl-spotted Owlet [licua] (Glaucidium perlatum licua)

Verreaux’s Eagle-owl (Bubo lacteus)

CAPRIMULGIFORMES

Nightjars (Caprimulgidae)

Black-shouldered Nightjar (Caprimulgus nigriscapularis)

Long-tailed Nightjar [climacurus] (Caprimulgus climacurus climacurus)

Swamp Nightjar [natalensis] (Caprimulgus natalensis natalensis)

Slender-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus clarus)

Rwenzori Nightjar (Caprimulgus poliocephalus rwenzorii)

Freckled Nightjar [tristigma] (Caprimulgus tristigma tristigma)

Apodiformes

Swifts (Apodidae)

Mottled Spinetail [sharpei] (Telacanthura ussheri sharpei)

White-rumped Swift (Apus caffer)

African Palm Swift (African) [myochrous] (Cypsiurus parvus myochrous)

Alpine Swift [sp] (Tachymarptis melba)

Little Swift (Little) [aerobates] (Apus affinis aerobates)

Horus Swift (Horus) (Apus horus horus)

African Black Swift [roehli] (Apus barbatus roehli)

TROGONIFORMES

Trogons (Trogonidae)

Narina Trogon [sp] (Apaloderma narina)

Bar-tailed Trogon (Apaloderma vittatum)

CORACIIFORMES

Rollers (Coraciidae)

Lilac-breasted Roller (Lilac-breasted) (Coracias caudatus caudatus)

Abyssinian Roller (Coracias abyssinicus)

Blue-throated Roller [neglectus] (Eurystomus gularis neglectus)

Broad-billed Roller [sp] (Eurystomus glaucurus)

Bee-eaters (Meropidae)

Black Bee-eater [australis] (Merops gularis australis)

White-throated Bee-eater (Merops albicollis)

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater [heuglini] (Merops hirundineus heuglini)

Olive Bee-eater [superciliosus] (Merops superciliosus superciliosus)

Little Bee-eater [sp] (Merops pusillus)

European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

Red-throated Bee-eater [frenatus] (Merops bulocki frenatus)

Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus)

Blue-breasted Bee-eater (Blue-breasted) [loringi] (Merops variegatus loringi)

Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (Merops oreobates)

Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)

Chocolate-backed Kingfisher (Halcyon badia)

Shining-blue Kingfisher [guentheri] (Alcedo quadribrachys guentheri)

Giant Kingfisher [maxima] (Megaceryle maxima maxima)

Grey-headed Kingfisher [sp] (Halcyon leucocephala)

Blue-breasted Kingfisher [malimbica] (Halcyon malimbica malimbica)

Pied Kingfisher [rudis] (Ceryle rudis rudis)

Woodland Kingfisher [senegalensis] (Halcyon senegalensis senegalensis)

Striped Kingfisher [chelicuti] (Halcyon chelicuti chelicuti)

Malachite Kingfisher (Mainland) [galeritus] (Corythornis cristatus galeritus)

African Dwarf Kingfisher [lecontei] (Ispidina lecontei lecontei)

African Pygmy Kingfisher [sp] (Ispidina picta)

COLIIFORMES

Mousebirds (Coliidae)

Speckled Mousebird [sp] (Colius striatus)

Blue-naped Mousebird [sp] (Urocolius macrourus)

BUCEROTIFORMES

Wood Hoopoes (Phoeniculidae)

Forest Wood Hoopoe [brunneiceps] (Phoeniculus castaneiceps brunneiceps)

Abyssinian Scimitarbill [cabanisi] (Rhinopomastus minor cabanisi)

White-headed Wood Hoopoe [jacksoni] (Phoeniculus bollei jacksoni)

Common Scimitarbill [schalowi] (Rhinopomastus cyanomelas schalowi)

Green Wood Hoopoe [marwitzi] (Phoeniculus purpureus marwitzi)

Ground Hornbills (Bucorvidae)

Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus)

Hornbills (Bucerotidae)

Northern Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus)

African Pied Hornbill (Congo) (Lophoceros fasciatus fasciatus)

African Grey Hornbill [sp] (Lophoceros nasutus)

Jackson’s Hornbill (Tockus jacksoni)

Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill [subquadratus] (Bycanistes subcylindricus subquadratus)

Black-casqued Hornbill (Ceratogymna atrata)

White-crested Hornbill (Eastern) (Horizocerus albocristatus cassini)

Crowned Hornbill (Lophoceros alboterminatus)

Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill (Lophoceros camurus)

Piping Hornbill (Eastern) [duboisi] (Bycanistes fistulator duboisi)

White-thighed Hornbill (Bycanistes albotibialis)

Hoopoes (Upupidae)

Eurasian Hoopoe (Central African) [waibeli] (Upupa epops waibeli)

PICIFORMES

Honeyguides (Indicatoridae)

Zenker’s Honeyguide (Melignomon zenkeri)

Dwarf Honeyguide (Indicator pumilio)

Willcocks’s Honeyguide [willcocksi] (Indicator willcocksi willcocksi)

Lesser Honeyguide [sp] (Indicator minor)

Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator)

Least Honeyguide [pachyrhynchus] (Indicator exilis pachyrhynchus)

African Barbets (Lybiidae)

Grey-throated Barbet (Grey-headed) (Gymnobucco bonapartei cinereiceps)

Speckled Tinkerbird [flavisquamatus] (Pogoniulus scolopaceus flavisquamatus)

D’Arnaud’s Barbet (D’Arnaud’s) [darnaudii] (Trachyphonus darnaudii darnaudii)

Yellow-throated Tinkerbird [flavimentum] (Pogoniulus subsulphureus flavimentum)

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird [sp] (Pogoniulus bilineatus)

Crested Barbet [suahelicus] (Trachyphonus vaillantii suahelicus)

Red-and-yellow Barbet [versicolor] (Trachyphonus erythrocephalus versicolor)

Western Tinkerbird (Eastern) (Pogoniulus coryphaea hildamariae)

Red-rumped Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus atroflavus)

White-headed Barbet (White-headed) [leucocephalus] (Lybius leucocephalus leucocephalus)

Black-billed Barbet (Lybius guifsobalito)

Double-toothed Barbet [aequatorialis] (Lybius bidentatus aequatorialis)

Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird [chrysoconus] (Pogoniulus chrysoconus chrysoconus)

Yellow-spotted Barbet (Buccanodon duchaillui)

Hairy-breasted Barbet (Streaky-throated) [ansorgii] (Tricholaema hirsuta ansorgii)

Spot-flanked Barbet [sp] (Tricholaema lacrymosa)

Yellow-billed Barbet (Eastern) [elgonensis] (Trachyphonus purpuratus elgonensis)

Black-breasted Barbet (Lybius rolleti)

Woodpeckers (Picidae)

African Grey Woodpecker (Grey) [centralis] (Dendropicos goertae centralis)

Yellow-crested Woodpecker (Chloropicus xantholophus)

Nubian Woodpecker [nubica] (Campethera nubica nubica)

Elliot’s Woodpecker (Elliot’s) (Dendropicos elliotii elliotii)

Tullberg’s Woodpecker (Fine-banded) [taeniolaema] (Campethera tullbergi taeniolaema)

Brown-eared Woodpecker (Carol’s) (Campethera caroli caroli)

Cardinal Woodpecker (Western) [lepidus] (Dendropicos fuscescens lepidus) 

FALCONIFORMES

Caracaras, Falcons (Falconidae)

Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)

Greater Kestrel [arthuri] (Falco rupicoloides arthuri)

Red-necked Falcon (African) [ruficollis] (Falco chicquera ruficollis)

Fox Kestrel (Falco alopex)

Peregrine Falcon (African) (Falco peregrinus minor)

Grey Kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus)

PSITTACIFORMES

Old World Parrots (Psittaculidae)

Red-headed Lovebird [ugandae] (Agapornis pullarius ugandae)

Rose-ringed Parakeet [krameri] (Psittacula krameri krameri)

African and New World Parrots (Psittacidae)

Meyer’s Parrot [saturatus] (Poicephalus meyeri saturatus)

Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus)

PASSERIFORMES

Wattle-eyes, Batises (Platysteiridae)

African Shrike-flycatcher [aequatorialis] (Megabyas flammulatus aequatorialis)

Black-throated Wattle-eye [mentalis] (Platysteira peltata mentalis)

Western Black-headed Batis [erlangeri] (Batis erlangeri erlangeri)

Ituri Batis (Batis ituriensis)

Brown-throated Wattle-eye [nyansae] (Platysteira cyanea nyansae)

Jameson’s Wattle-eye (Platysteira jamesoni)

Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher [musicus] (Bias musicus musicus)

Rwenzori Batis (Batis diops)

Chinspot Batis [puella] (Batis molitor puella)

Chestnut Wattle-eye (Platysteira castanea)

Broadbills (Eurylaimidae)

Grauer’s Broadbill (Pseudocalyptomena graueri)

Helmetshrikes (Prionopidae)

Pittas (Pittidae)

Green-breasted Pitta (Pitta reichenowi)

White-crested Helmetshrike [sp] (Prionops plumatus)

Cuckooshrikes (Campephagidae)

Grey Cuckooshrike [pura] (Coracina caesia pura)

Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike (Campephaga phoenicea)

Petit’s Cuckooshrike (Campephaga petiti)

Bushshrikes (Malaconotidae)

Lagden’s Bushshrike (Eastern) (Malaconotus lagdeni centralis)

Black-crowned Tchagra (Black-crowned) [armenus] (Tchagra senegalus armenus)

Many-colored Bushshrike [sp] (Chlorophoneus multicolor)

Bocage’s Bushshrike [jacksoni] (Chlorophoneus bocagei jacksoni)

Doherty’s Bushshrike (Telophorus dohertyi)

Marsh Tchagra (Marsh) (Bocagia minuta minuta)

Brubru [sp] (Nilaus afer)

Brown-crowned Tchagra [emini] (Tchagra australis emini)

Slate-colored Boubou (Laniarius funebris)

Lühder’s Bushshrike (Laniarius luehderi)

Tropical Boubou [major] (Laniarius major major)

Orange-breasted Bushshrike [sp] (Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus)

Pink-footed Puffback [nandensis] (Dryoscopus angolensis nandensis)

Northern Puffback [sp] (Dryoscopus gambensis)

Lowland Sooty Boubou (Laniarius leucorhynchus)

Mountain Sooty Boubou (Rwenzori) (Laniarius poensis holomelas)

Papyrus Gonolek (Laniarius mufumbiri)

Black-headed Gonolek (Laniarius erythrogaster)

Monarchs (Monarchidae)

Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher [nitens] (Trochocercus nitens nitens)

Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher [sp] (Terpsiphone rufiventer)

African Paradise Flycatcher [sp] (Terpsiphone viridis)

Figbirds, Orioles (Oriolidae)

Mountain Oriole (Oriolus percivali)

Black-headed Oriole [rolleti] (Oriolus larvatus rolleti)

Western Oriole [laetior] (Oriolus brachyrynchus laetior)

Shrikes (Laniidae)

Yellow-billed Shrike [affinis] (Corvinella corvina affinis)

Northern White-crowned Shrike (Eurocephalus ruppelli)

Mackinnon’s Shrike (Lanius mackinnoni)

Grey-backed Fiscal [sp] (Lanius excubitoroides)

Northern Fiscal [sp] (Lanius humeralis)

Drongos (Dicruridae)

Fork-tailed Drongo [sp] (Dicrurus adsimilis)

Velvet-mantled Drongo (Velvet-mantled) [coracinus] (Dicrurus modestus coracinus)

Crows, Jays (Corvidae)

White-necked Raven (Corvus albicollis)

Piapiac (Ptilostomus afer)

Fan-tailed Raven [rhipidurus] (Corvus rhipidurus rhipidurus)

Pied Crow (Corvus albus)

Fan-tailed Raven [sp] (Corvus rhipidurus)

Fairy Flycatchers (Stenostiridae)

African Blue Flycatcher [teresita] (Elminia longicauda teresita)

White-tailed Blue Flycatcher (Elminia albicauda)

Dusky Crested Flycatcher [nigromitrata] (Elminia nigromitrata nigromitrata)

Tits, Chickadees (Paridae)

Dusky Tit [funereus] (Melaniparus funereus funereus)

White-shouldered Black Tit (Melaniparus guineensis)

White-winged Black Tit [insignis] (Melaniparus leucomelas insignis)

Stripe-breasted Tit [fasciiventer] (Melaniparus fasciiventer fasciiventer)

White-bellied Tit (Melaniparus albiventris)

Nicators (Nicatoridae)

Western Nicator (Nicator chloris)

Yellow-throated Nicator (Nicator vireo)

Larks (Alaudidae)

Red-capped Lark [saturatior] (Calandrella cinerea saturatior)

Red-winged Lark (Red-winged) [kidepoensis] (Mirafra hypermetra kidepoensis)

Flappet Lark [sp] (Mirafra rufocinnamomea)

Rufous-naped Lark (Rufous-naped) [rwenzoria] (Mirafra africana rwenzoria)

White-tailed Lark (Mirafra albicauda)

Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae)

Dark-capped Bulbul (Pycnonotus tricolor tricolor)

Spotted Greenbul (Ixonotus guttatus)

Yellow-whiskered Greenbul [latirostris] (Eurillas latirostris latirostris)

Ansorge’s Greenbul [ansorgei] (Eurillas ansorgei ansorgei)

Plain Greenbul (Eastern) (Eurillas curvirostris curvirostris)

White-throated Greenbul (White-throated) (Phyllastrephus albigularis albigularis)

Little Greenbul [virens] (Eurillas virens virens)

Yellow-lored Bristlebill (Yellow-eyed) (Bleda notatus ugandae)

Olive-breasted Greenbul (Arizelocichla kikuyuensis)

Slender-billed Greenbul [gracilirostris] (Stelgidillas gracilirostris gracilirostris)

Simple Greenbul (Chlorocichla simple)

Yellow-throated Leaflove (Southern) (Atimastillas flavicollis flavigula)

Toro Olive Greenbul (Phyllastrephus hypochloris)

Kakamega Greenbul [kakamegae] (Arizelocichla kakamegae kakamegae)

Yellow-streaked Greenbul [olivaceogriseus] (Phyllastrephus flavostriatus olivaceogriseus)

Red-tailed Bristlebill [woosnami] (Bleda syndactylus woosnami)

Swallows, Martins (Hirundinidae)

White-headed Saw-wing (White-headed) (Psalidoprocne albiceps albiceps)

Grey-rumped Swallow [griseopyga] (Pseudhirundo griseopyga griseopyga)

Banded Martin [suahelica] (Riparia cincta suahelica)

Red-breasted Swallow [gordoni] (Cecropis semirufa gordoni)

African Wire-tailed Swallow (Hirundo smithii smithii)

Rock Martin (Red-throated) [rufigula] (Ptyonoprogne fuligula rufigula)

Lesser Striped Swallow [unitatis] (Cecropis abyssinica unitatis)

Mosque Swallow [saturatior] (Cecropis senegalensis saturatior)

Barn Swallow (White-bellied) (Hirundo rustica rustica)

Angolan Swallow (Hirundo angolensis)

Red-rumped Swallow [emini] (Cecropis daurica emini)

Black Saw-wing [rwenzori] (Psalidoprocne pristoptera rwenzori)

Family Uncertain (Incertae Sedis 1)

Green Hylia [prasina] (Hylia prasina prasina)

Crombecs, African warblers (Macrosphenidae)

Moustached Grass Warbler [amauroura] (Melocichla mentalis amauroura)

Lemon-bellied Crombec [denti] (Sylvietta denti denti)

Yellow Longbill [hypochondriacus] (Macrosphenus flavicans hypochondriacus)

Green Crombec [baraka] (Sylvietta virens baraka)

White-browed Crombec [sp] (Sylvietta leucophrys)

Grey Longbill (Macrosphenus concolor)

Northern Crombec (Northern) [carnapi] (Sylvietta brachyura carnapi)

Leaf warblers and allies (Phylloscopidae)

Uganda Woodland Warbler (Phylloscopus budongoensis)

Red-faced Woodland Warbler [laetus] (Phylloscopus laetus laetus)

Yellow Flycatchers (Erythrocercidae)

Chestnut-capped Flycatcher [congicus] (Erythrocercus mccallii congicus)

Reed warblers and allies (Acrocephalidae)

Lesser Swamp Warbler [jacksoni] (Acrocephalus gracilirostris jacksoni)

Rufescent Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus baeticatus cinnamomeus)

Mountain Yellow Warbler (Iduna similis)

Grassbirds and allies (Locustellidae)

White-winged Swamp Warbler (Bradypterus carpalis)

Evergreen Forest Warbler (Volcanic) (Bradypterus lopezi barakae)

Fan-tailed Grassbird [alexinae] (Schoenicola brevirostris alexinae)

Grauer’s Swamp Warbler (Bradypterus graueri)

Cinnamon Bracken Warbler [sp] (Bradypterus cinnamomeus)

Cisticolas and Allies (Cisticolidae)

Red-faced Cisticola (Red-faced) [sylvia] (Cisticola erythrops sylvia)

Singing Cisticola [belli] (Cisticola cantans belli)

Trilling Cisticola [woosnami] (Cisticola woosnami woosnami)

Rattling Cisticola [sp] (Cisticola chiniana)

Boran Cisticola [bodessa] (Cisticola bodessa bodessa)

Whistling Cisticola [antinorii] (Cisticola lateralis antinorii)

Chubb’s Cisticola (Chubb’s) [chubbi] (Cisticola chubbi chubbi)

Lynes’s Cisticola (Cisticola distinctus)

Black-backed Cisticola (Black-necked) [eximius] (Cisticola eximius eximius)

Wing-snapping Cisticola [sp] (Cisticola ayresii)

Tawny-flanked Prinia [sp] (Prinia subflava)

Short-winged Cisticola [sp] (Cisticola brachypterus)

Foxy Cisticola [troglodytes] (Cisticola troglodytes troglodytes)

Carruthers’s Cisticola (Cisticola carruthersi)

Yellow-breasted Apalis (Brown-tailed) [flavocincta] (Apalis flavida flavocincta)

Lowland Masked Apalis (Apalis binotata)

Winding Cisticola [sp] (Cisticola marginatus)pp

Buff-bellied Warbler (Phyllolais pulchella)

Yellow-breasted Apalis (Brown-tailed) [flavocincta] (Apalis flavida flavocincta)

Lowland Masked Apalis (Apalis binotata)

Winding Cisticola [sp] (Cisticola marginatus)pp

Carruthers’s Cisticola (Cisticola carruthersi)

Buff-bellied Warbler (Phyllolais pulchella)

Long-tailed Cisticola (Cisticola angusticauda)

Croaking Cisticola [strangei] (Cisticola natalensis strangei)

Mongalla Cisticola (Cisticola ruficeps mongalla)

Karamoja Apalis [karamojae] (Apalis karamojae karamojae)

Rwenzori Apalis (Oreolais rwenzorii)

Chestnut-throated Apalis (Apalis porphyrolaema)

Buff-throated Apalis [sp] (Apalis rufogularis)

Zitting Cisticola (African) [uropygialis] (Cisticola juncidis uropygialis)

Banded Prinia [bairdii] (Prinia bairdii bairdii)

Grey-capped Warbler (Eminia lepida)

Mountain Illadopsis [pyrrhoptera] (Illadopsis pyrrhoptera pyrrhoptera)

Stout Cisticola (Rufous-crowned) [nuchalis] (Cisticola robustus nuchalis)

Mountain Masked Apalis [personata] (Apalis personata personata)

White-chinned Prinia [reichenowi] (Schistolais leucopogon reichenowi)

Red-winged Warbler [jodopterus] (Heliolais erythropterus jodopterus)

Red-winged Grey Warbler (Drymocichla incana)

Black-throated Apalis [jacksoni] (Apalis jacksoni jacksoni)

Grey-backed Camaroptera [sp] (Camaroptera brevicaudata)

Puvel’s Illadopsis [strenuipes] (Illadopsis puveli strenuipes)

Brown Illadopsis (Brown) [ugandae] (Illadopsis fulvescens ugandae)

White-eyes (Zosteropidae)

African Yellow White-eye [sp] (Zosterops senegalensis)

Hyliotas (Hyliotidae)

Yellow-bellied Hyliota [flavigaster] (Hyliota flavigaster flavigaster)

Sylviid Babblers (Sylviidae)

Rwenzori Hill Babbler (Pseudoalcippe atriceps)

Laughingthrushes (Leiothrichidae)

Brown Babbler [cinerea] (Turdoides plebejus cinerea)

Black-lored Babbler (Sharpe’s) (Turdoides sharpei sharpei)

Rufous Chatterer [rubiginosa] (Turdoides rubiginosa rubiginosa)

Arrow-marked Babbler [emini] (Turdoides jardineii emini)

Thrushes (Turdidae)

White-tailed Ant Thrush [praepectoralis] (Neocossyphus poensis praepectoralis)

African Thrush (African) [centralis] (Turdus pelios centralis)

Abyssinian Thrush [sp] (Turdus abyssinicus)

Fraser’s Rufous Thrush [vulpina] (Stizorhina fraseri vulpina)

Starlings, Rhabdornis (Sturnidae)

Purple-headed Starling (Hylopsar purpureiceps)

Splendid Starling [splendidus] (Lamprotornis splendidus splendidus)

Violet-backed Starling [leucogaster] (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster leucogaster)

Red-winged Starling [morio] (Onychognathus morio morio)

Purple Starling [amethystinus] (Lamprotornis purpureus amethystinus)

Lesser Blue-eared Starling (Lamprotornis chloropterus)

Bronze-tailed Starling [emini] (Lamprotornis chalcurus emini)

Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris)

Sharpe’s Starling (Poeoptera sharpii)

Waller’s Starling (Albertine) (Onychognathus walleri elgonensis)

Stuhlmann’s Starling (Poeoptera stuhlmanni)

Rüppell’s Starling [purpuroptera] (Lamprotornis purpuroptera purpuroptera)

Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus)

Greater Blue-eared Starling [sp] (Lamprotornis chalybaeus)

Slender-billed Starling [theresae] (Onychognathus tenuirostris theresae)

Chestnut-winged Starling (Hartlaub’s) [hartlaubii] (Onychognathus fulgidus hartlaubii)

Oxpeckers (Buphagidae)

Red-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorynchus)

Yellow-billed Oxpecker [africanus] (Buphagus africanus africanus)

Chats, Old World Flycatchers (Muscicapidae)

Fire-crested Alethe [woosnami] (Alethe castanea woosnami)

Forest Scrub Robin (Forest) [collsi] (Cercotrichas leucosticta collsi)

Brown-backed Scrub Robin (Cercotrichas hartlaubi)

White-browed Scrub Robin (Red-backed) [zambesiana] (Cercotrichas leucophrys zambesiana)

Northern Black Flycatcher [lugubris] (Melaenornis edolioides lugubris)

Pale Flycatcher [sp] (Melaenornis pallidus)

African Grey Flycatcher (Greyish) [neumanni] (Melaenornis microrhynchus neumanni)

Silverbird (Empidornis semipartitus)

Blue-shouldered Robin-chat [bartteloti] (Cossypha cyanocampter bartteloti)

White-browed Robin-chat [heuglini] (Cossypha heuglini heuglini)

Snowy-crowned Robin-chat [sp] (Cossypha niveicapilla)

White-starred Robin [rwenzorii] (Pogonocichla stellata rwenzorii)

Ashy Flycatcher [brevicauda] (Muscicapa caerulescens brevicauda)

Swamp Flycatcher [infulata] (Muscicapa aquatica infulata)

Cassin’s Flycatcher (Muscicapa cassini)

Spotted Palm Thrush [guttata] (Cichladusa guttata guttata)

Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher (Melaenornis ardesiacus)

African Dusky Flycatcher [pumila] (Muscicapa adusta pumila)

Dusky-blue Flycatcher [comitata] (Muscicapa comitata comitata)

Red-throated Alethe [poliophrys] (Chamaetylas poliophrys poliophrys)

Archer’s Ground Robin (Archer’s) (Cossypha archeri archeri)

Grey-winged Robin-Chat (Grey-winged) (Cossypha polioptera polioptera)

African Stonechat [sp] (Saxicola torquatus)

Mocking Cliff Chat [subrufipennis] (Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris subrufipennis)

Sooty Chat (Myrmecocichla nigra)

Ruaha Chat (Myrmecocichla collaris)

White-fronted Black Chat [clericalis] (Oenanthe albifrons clericalis)

Familiar Chat [sp] (Oenanthe familiaris)

Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher (Eastern) (Fraseria ocreata ocreata)

Grey-throated Tit-flycatcher [griseigularis] (Myioparus griseigularis griseigularis)

Grey Tit-flycatcher [plumbeus] (Myioparus plumbeus plumbeus)

White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher [sp] (Melaenornis fischeri)

Forest Robin (Eastern) (Stiphrornis erythrothorax xanthogaster)

Equatorial Akalat [aequatorialis] (Sheppardia aequatorialis aequatorialis)

Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches (Passeridae)

House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus)

Shelley’s Sparrow (Passer shelleyi)

Northern Grey-headed Sparrow [ugandae] (Passer griseus ugandae)

Chestnut Sparrow (Passer eminibey)

Yellow-spotted Petronia [pyrgita] (Gymnoris pyrgita pyrgita)

Sunbirds (Nectariniidae)

Grey-headed Sunbird (Deleornis axillaris)

Beautiful Sunbird (Beautiful) (Cinnyris pulchellus pulchellus)

Collared Sunbird [garguensis] (Hedydipna collaris garguensis)

Green-headed Sunbird (Green-headed) [viridisplendens] (Cyanomitra verticalis viridisplendens)

Olive-bellied Sunbird [orphogaster] (Cinnyris chloropygius orphogaster)

Tiny Sunbird (Cinnyris minullus)

Rwenzori Double-collared Sunbird [sp] (Cinnyris stuhlmanni)

Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Eastern) (Cinnyris reichenowi reichenowi)

Regal Sunbird [regius] (Cinnyris regius regius)

Bronzy Sunbird [kilimensis] (Nectarinia kilimensis kilimensis)

Marico Sunbird [sp] (Cinnyris mariquensis)

Red-chested Sunbird (Cinnyris erythrocercus)

Superb Sunbird [buvuma] (Cinnyris superbus buvuma)

Little Green Sunbird [minor] (Anthreptes seimundi minor)

Grey-chinned Sunbird (Grey-throated) (Anthreptes rectirostris tephrolaemus)

Malachite Sunbird [cupreonitens] (Nectarinia famosa cupreonitens)

Blue-throated Brown Sunbird [octaviae] (Cyanomitra cyanolaema octaviae)

Blue-headed Sunbird [alinae] (Cyanomitra alinae alinae)

Olive Sunbird (Eastern) [group] (Cyanomitra olivacea [olivacea-group])

Scarlet-chested Sunbird [sp] (Chalcomitra senegalensis)

Variable Sunbird [sp] (Cinnyris venustus)

Copper Sunbird [cupreus] (Cinnyris cupreus cupreus)

Weavers, Widowbirds (Ploceidae)

White-billed Buffalo Weaver (Bubalornis albirostris)

Speckle-fronted Weaver [emini] (Sporopipes frontalis emini)

Thick-billed Weaver [melanota] (Amblyospiza albifrons melanota)

Baglafecht Weaver [sp] (Ploceus baglafecht)

Strange Weaver (Ploceus alienus)

White-headed Buffalo Weaver [dinemelli] (Dinemellia dinemelli dinemelli)

White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (Black-billed) (Plocepasser mahali melanorhynchus)

Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser superciliosus)

Spectacled Weaver (Yellow-throated) (Ploceus ocularis crocatus)

Little Weaver [kavirondensis] (Ploceus luteolus kavirondensis)

Grey-capped Social Weaver [arnaudi] (Pseudonigrita arnaudi arnaudi)

Black-billed Weaver (Hooded) (Ploceus melanogaster stephanophorus)

Holub’s Golden Weaver (Ploceus xanthops)

Black-necked Weaver (Black-backed) [nigricollis] (Ploceus nigricollis nigricollis)

Baglafecht Weaver (Stuhlmann’s) [stuhlmanni] (Ploceus baglafecht stuhlmanni)

Slender-billed Weaver [pelzelni] (Ploceus pelzelni pelzelni)

Orange Weaver [rex] (Ploceus aurantius rex)

Red-headed Weaver (Northern) (Anaplectes rubriceps leuconotos)

Cardinal Quelea [cardinalis] (Quelea cardinalis cardinalis)

Red-headed Quelea (Quelea erythrops)

Village Weaver (Black-headed) [bohndorffi] (Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi)

Vieillot’s Black Weaver (Black) (Ploceus nigerrimus nigerrimus)

Weyns’s Weaver (Ploceus weynsi)

Blue-billed Malimbe (Malimbus nitens)

Compact Weaver (Ploceus superciliosus)

Northern Brown-throated Weaver (Ploceus castanops)

Yellow Bishop (Yellow) [crassirostris] (Euplectes capensis crassirostris)

Brown-capped Weaver (Ploceus insignis)

Red-billed Quelea [aethiopica] (Quelea quelea aethiopica)

Northern Black Bishop (Euplectes gierowii ansorgei)

Black-winged Red Bishop [sp] (Euplectes hordeaceus)

Fan-tailed Widowbird [phoeniceus] (Euplectes axillaris phoeniceus)

Yellow-mantled Widowbird (Yellow-shouldered) (Euplectes macroura macrocercus)

Yellow-mantled Widowbird (Yellow-mantled) [macroura] (Euplectes macroura macroura)

Marsh Widowbird [humeralis] (Euplectes hartlaubi humeralis)

White-winged Widowbird [eques] (Euplectes albonotatus eques)

Red-collared Widowbird (Red-collared) (Euplectes ardens ardens)

Lesser Masked Weaver [intermedius] (Ploceus intermedius intermedius)

Vitelline Masked Weaver [uluensis] (Ploceus vitellinus uluensis)

Fox’s Weaver (Ploceus spekeoides)

Red-headed Malimbe [rubricollis] (Malimbus rubricollis rubricollis)

Crested Malimbe [malimbicus] (Malimbus malimbicus malimbicus)

Black-headed Weaver [fischeri] (Ploceus melanocephalus fischeri)

Golden-backed Weaver (Ploceus jacksoni)

Yellow-mantled Weaver [interscapularis] (Ploceus tricolor interscapularis)

Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix)

Northern Red Bishop [franciscanus] (Euplectes franciscanus franciscanus)

Indigobirds, Whydahs (Viduidae)

Pin-tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura)

Steel-blue Whydah (Vidua hypocherina)

Village Indigobird (South African) [centralis] (Vidua chalybeata centralis)

Waxbills, Munias and Allies (Estrildidae)

Jameson’s Antpecker (Parmoptila jamesoni)

White-collared Oliveback (Nesocharis ansorgei)

Grey-headed Oliveback (Nesocharis capistrata)

Red-headed Bluebill [ruficapilla] (Spermophaga ruficapilla ruficapilla)

Black-bellied Firefinch [rara] (Lagonosticta rara rara)

Bar-breasted Firefinch [lateritia] (Lagonosticta rufopicta lateritia)

Cut-throat Finch [alexanderi] (Amadina fasciata alexanderi)

Dusky Crimsonwing (Cryptospiza jacksoni)

White-breasted Nigrita [fusconotus] (Nigrita fusconotus fusconotus)

Chestnut-breasted Nigrita [saturatior] (Nigrita bicolor saturatior)

Common Waxbill [adesma] (Estrilda astrild adesma)

Black-and-white Mannikin [poensis] (Lonchura bicolor poensis)

Red-billed Firefinch [ruberrima] (Lagonosticta senegala ruberrima)

Grey-headed Nigrita [schistaceus] (Nigrita canicapillus schistaceus)

Red-winged Pytilia [emini] (Pytilia phoenicoptera emini)

Green-winged Pytilia [sp] (Pytilia melba)

Black-crowned Waxbill [nonnula] (Estrilda nonnula nonnula)

Kandt’s Waxbill [kandti] (Estrilda kandti kandti)

Quailfinch (Black-faced) [ugandae] (Ortygospiza atricollis ugandae)

Quailfinch (Red-billed) [dorsostriata] (Ortygospiza atricollis dorsostriata)

Bronze Mannikin [sp] (Lonchura cucullata)

Fawn-breasted Waxbill [sp] (Estrilda paludicola)

Orange-cheeked Waxbill (Estrilda melpoda)

Black-rumped Waxbill (Estrilda troglodytes)

African Firefinch [sp] (Lagonosticta rubricata)

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu [bengalus] (Uraeginthus bengalus bengalus)

Yellow-bellied Waxbill [kilimensis] (Coccopygia quartinia kilimensis) 

Finches (Fringillidae)

Black-throated Canary [somereni] (Crithagra atrogularis somereni)

Western Citril (Crithagra frontalis)

Brimstone Canary [sharpii] (Crithagra sulphurata sharpii)

Thick-billed Seedeater [sp] (Crithagra burtoni)

Yellow-fronted Canary [barbata] (Crithagra mozambica barbata)

Streaky Seedeater [sp] (Crithagra striolata)

Yellow-crowned Canary [sassii] (Serinus flavivertex sassii)

Buntings (Emberizidae)

Cabanis’s Bunting (Cabanis’s) (Emberiza cabanisi cabanisi)

Somali Bunting (Emberiza poliopleura)

Brown-rumped Bunting [affinis] (Emberiza affinis affinis)

Golden-breasted Bunting [kalaharica] (Emberiza flaviventris kalaharica)

Wagtails, Pipits (Motacillidae)

Western Yellow Wagtail [sp] (Motacilla flava)

African Pipit [sp] (Anthus cinnamomeus)

Short-tailed Pipit [leggei] (Anthus brachyurus leggei)

Wells’s Wagtail (Motacilla capensis wellsi)

Plain-backed Pipit [zenkeri] (Anthus leucophrys zenkeri)

Yellow-throated Longclaw [croceus] (Macronyx croceus croceus)

African Pied Wagtail [vidua] (Motacilla aguimp vidua)

Long-billed Pipit (Nicholson’s) [dewittei] (Anthus similis dewittei)