Bwindi Impenetrable National Park should be on every birder’s itinerary. The park offers some of the best montane forest bird watching in Africa. An estimated 350 bird species includes 23 birds unique to the Albertine Rift and 14 not recorded anywhere else in Uganda, including Fraser’s eagle owl, Neumann’s warbler and Chapin’s flycatcher. Bwindi is the only place outside the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the alluring and attractive Grauer’s broadbill might be seen. Migratory birds are present from November to April.
Birding Specials Treats for Avid Birders
(NE) near-endemic = lives in Uganda and neighboring countries- African broadbill
- Archer’s robin-chat (NE)
- Bar-tailed trogon
- Black bee-eater
- Black-billed turaco
- Black-faced rufous warbler (NE)
- Blue-headed sunbird (NE)
- Carruthers’s cisticola
- Chapin’s flycatcher (NE)
- Cinnamon-chested bee-eater
- Doherty’s bush-shrike
- Dusky crimsonwing (NE)
- Dwarf honeyguide (NE)
- Eastern mountain greenbul
- Fraser’s eagle owl
- Grauer’s broadbill (NE)
- Grauer’s swamp warbler (NE)
- Grauer’s warbler (NE)
- Great blue turaco
- Handsome francolin (NE)
- Kivu ground thrush (NE)
- Lagden’s bush-shrike
- Mackinnon’s shrike
- Many-coloured bush-shrike
- Mountain masked apalis (NE)
- Neumann’s warbler (NE)
- Purple-breasted sunbird (NE)
- Red-chested flufftail
- Red-faced woodland warbler (NE)
- Red-throated alethe (NE)
- Regal sunbird (NE)
- Ruwenzori apalis (NE)
- Ruwenzori batis (NE)
- Ruwenzori double-collared sunbird (NE)
- Ruwenzori nightjar (NE)
- Ruwenzori turaco (NE)
- Shelley’s crimsonwing (NE)
- Strange weaver (NE)
- Stripe-breasted tit (NE)
- Western green tinkerbird
- White-bellied robin-chat
- White-tailed blue flycatcher
- White-tailed crested flycatcher
- Yellow-eyed black flycatcher (NE)
- Yellow-streaked greenbul
Best Time for Bird Watching
Birdlife in Bwindi is good year-round, but best in March and September. The months of June and July have the least rain, while March to May and September to November have the most. Heavy rains might interfere with your bird-watching time. The main nesting season is May to June, with food being abundant from late May through September. If you’re specifically looking for Grauer’s broadbill, this is most likely to be seen along the Mubwindi Trail over May to July. Migratory birds are present from November to April, though they are not a significant part of Bwindi’s attraction to birders.