Birds in Lake Mburo National Park – Safari Uganda
Birds in Lake Mburo National Park; Lake Mburo National Park is one of the best sites for Uganda birding best to see acacia dwelling birds. The park is a paradise of birds with over 300 bird species recorded in the park. Birders can as well do birding along the swamps that inhabits with six papyrus species which are residents including the papyrus gonolek and the blue headed coucal. There are also southern species found at the northern limit of their range including the black-collared barbet and bare faced go away bird and the migratory birds are present from November to April. Bird species include the endemic that only live in Uganda ‘s birding destinations and the near –endemic which lives in neighboring countries.
List of bird species to see in Lake Mburo National Park as highlighted blow;
Bare-faced go away bird
African finfoot
Rufous bellied heron
Black bellied bustard
Red headed lovebird
Ross’s Turaco
Elusive shoebill
Lilac breasted Roller
Shining blue kingfishers
Buff-spotted
Brown eared
African wattle plover
Yellow throated long caw
Black winged Bishop
Chubb’s
Timmins’s courser
Great swamp warblers
Green wood hoopoe
Nubian woodpeckers
Red shouldered cuckoo shrike, Long tailed cisticola
White winged tit
African scoops owl
Yellow rumped tinker bird
White winged swamp warbler
Southern ground hornbill
Shoebill
Tabor cisticola
Red faced barbet
Papyrus yellow warbler
Mosque swallow
Hairy-breasted barbet
Papyrus gonolek
Greater painted barbet
Carruthers’s cisticola
Brown-chested lapwing
Blue-headed coucal
Brown chested lapwing
Blue-breasted kingfisher
Migratory Bird Species include;
The Gull
Passerines
Small wader
Ducks
Storks
The park is in water areas with over five lakes , where the name for the park were got from ‘’LAKE MBURO’’ ,the lakes inhabits with a diversity of animals species and plants which can be seen clearly on the boat trip animals to see include crocodiles ,hippopotamus and water bird species such as pelican ,Black crake ,Common Squacco ,Striated ,Purple ,Goliath ,Grey and Black headed herons ,Great white and pink backed cormorants ,African fish eagles ,shoebill stork among others. The boat cruise can take 1 to 2hours while experiencing African nature.
Where to do birding in the Lake Mburo national park
There are several places where birders can do birding from on their visit to the park such places include swampy valleys Warukiri and Miriti and the roadsides between Rwonyo camp and the jetty. They are ideal places to view variety of notable bird species and other area suitable for birding is at the salt lick and Rubanga Forest. Whereby, Rubanga forest can be toured using a vehicle or on foot, this is a real draw for keen birders which can be made with the wardens.
Best time for birding –Lake Mburo National Park
The birding in Lake Mburo is done all year around. Though the best time to enjoy birding is in wet season when food is in plenty inside the park, which starts from March to May and October to November. During these months they can receive heavy rainfalls which might lead you to disappointment and this is due to impassable roads and slippery hiking trails. Thus leading to time limitation of your birding Uganda safari.
The park also boosts with rolling hills, open grassy valley, interspersed with thickets, woodland and rich wet lands a home for wide range of antelopes such as impalas, herds of Eland ‘’which’s Africa’s largest antelope. Since Lake Mburo national park is a home to large population of antelope species that may be sighted around the park’s scenic landscape including Bushbuck, Sitatunga, Common Klipspringer, Oribis, Defassa waterbuck, Bohor Reedbuck among others. Other attractions to encounter around the park, visiting the pastoral Bahima people who are famously known for their long horned Ankole cattle. And on your visit to the park as you enter entrance of the park, you will have a memorable sights of a lot of these animals as you will be able to see them graze near but inside the park
