Semuliki National Park is one of Uganda’s top birding hot spots. It is of particular interest to those who have already visited several other forests in Uganda. This is because the checklist of some 435 bird species includes 35 Congo-Guinea specials recorded nowhere else in East Africa, and at least a dozen more that are difficult to see elsewhere in the region. Particularly notable is a wealth of forest hornbills that includes six species seldom seen anywhere else in Uganda. Species new to Uganda are still occasionally recorded in Semuliki, which only adds to the excitement of a birding trip here.
Birding Specials Treats for Avid Birders
- African piculet
- African pied hornbill
- Bates’s nightjar
- Black dwarf hornbill
- Black-casqued hornbill
- Black-throated coucal
- Black-winged oriole
- Blue-billed malimbe
- Blue-breasted kingfisher
- Blue-headed flycatcher
- Capuchin babbler
- Chestnut owlet
- Chestnut-breasted nigrita
- Chestnut-flanked sparrowhawk
- Congo serpent eagle
- Crested malimbe
- Eastern bearded greenbul
- Fiery-breasted bush-shrike
- Forest scrub robin
- Gabon woodpecker
- Grant’s bluebill
- Grey ground thrush
- Hartlaub’s duck
- Long-tailed hawk
- Lowland akalat
- Lyre-tailed honeyguide
- Maxwell’s black weaver
- Nkulengu rail
- Piping hornbill
- Red-billed dwarf hornbill
- Red-billed helmet-shrike
- Red-eyed puffback
- Red-rumped tinkerbird
- Red-thighed sparrowhawk
- Rufous flycatcher-thrush
- Rufous-sided broadbill
- Sassi’s olive greenbul
- Simple greenbul
- Spot-breasted ibis
- Spotted honeyguide
- Swamp palm bulbul
- Western bronze-naped pigeon
- White-crested hornbill
- White-throated blue swallow
- Xavier’s greenbul
- Yellow longbill
- Yellow-throated cuckoo
- Yellow-throated nicator
- Zenker’s honeyguide
Best Time for Bird Watching
Bird watching in Semuliki is not strongly seasonal. This is because the Congo-Guinea species that attract birders are resident and might be spotted throughout the year. That said, conditions are easier, with a lower risk of being rained out, in the relatively Dry seasons (December to February and June to July). Migratory birds, though not a major attraction of Semuliki, are usually present from November to April.