Birds of Uganda

Over 1000 species of birds live in Uganda. There are about 60 national parks where the avifauna are protected. Also, despite being landlocked, the country has several large lakes like Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga, which let waterbirds thrive.

Uganda’s national bird is the Gray Crowned Crane, also seen on the country’s flag. Other notable species include the African Fish Eagle, the Shoebill, and the Great Blue Turaco.

List of Common Birds Found in Uganda

Native Birds

Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
Abyssinian Roller
African Black Crake
African Black-headed Oriole
African Blue Flycatcher
African Broadbill
African Crowned Crane
African Crowned Eagle
African Darter
African Emerald Cuckoo
African Finfoot
African Firefinch
African Fish Eagle
African Golden-breasted Bunting
African Golden Oriole
African Goshawk
African Gray Flycatcher
African Gray Hornbill
African Gray Parrot
African Green Broadbill
African Green Pigeon
African Harrier-hawk
African Jacana
African Mourning Dove
African Palm Swift
African Paradise Flycatcher
African Pied Hornbill
African Pygmy Goose
African Pygmy Kingfisher
African Reed Warbler
African Sacred Ibis
African Spoonbill
African Stonechat
African Thrush
African Wattled Lapwing
Angola Swallow
Bar-tailed Trogon
Bateleur
Beautiful Sunbird
Black-and-white Casqued Hornbill
Black Bee-eater
Black-bellied Seedcracker
Black-billed Barbet
Black-breasted Barbet
Black Crake
Black-faced Waxbill
Black-headed Gonolek
Black-headed Heron
Black-lored Babbler
Black-throated Wattle-eye
Black-winged Red Bishop
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
Blue-naped Mousebird
Blue-spotted Wood Dove
Brown-backed Scrub Robin
Brown Parrot
Brown-throated Martin
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Buff-bellied Warbler
Chocolate-Backed Kingfisher
Chubb’s Cisticola
Collared Sunbird
Common Hoopoe
Common Ostrich
Common Waxbill
Crested Crane
Dark-capped Yellow Warbler
Doherty’s Bushshrike
Dusky Turtle Dove
Eastern Gray Plantain-eater
Giant Kingfisher
Goliath Heron
Gray Crowned Crane
Gray-headed Kingfisher
Gray Kestrel
Gray-throated Barbet
Great Blue Turaco
Greater Flamingo
Great White Pelican
Green-backed Camaroptera
Green-Breasted Pitta
Green Wood Hoopoe
Hadada Ibis
Hamerkop
Handsome Francolin
Helmeted Guinea Fowl
Hildebrandt’s Francolin
Hooded Vulture
Lesser Flamingo
Lesser Striped Swallow
Lilac-breasted Roller
Little Bee-eater
Little Grebe
Long-crested Eagle
Lühder’s Bushshrike
Marabou Stork
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Northern Red-billed Hornbill
Northern Red Bishop
Nubian Woodpecker
Pied Crow
Pied Kingfisher
Pink-backed Pelican
Pin-tailed Whydah
Purple-breasted Sunbird
Purple Roller
Red-chested Cuckoo
Red-chested Sunbird
Red-eyed Dove
Red-faced Barbet
Red-faced Cisticola
Red-throated Bee-eater
Red-throated Wryneck
Ross’s Turaco
Saddle-billed Stork
Scaly-throated Honeyguide
Secretary Bird
Shelley’s Crimsonwing
Shoebill
Short-tailed warbler
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Standard-winged Nightjar
Superb Starling
Verreaux’s Eagle-owl
Village Weaver
Wahlberg’s Eagle
White-backed Vulture
White-bellied Kingfisher
White-breasted Cuckooshrike
White-browed Coucal
White-browed Robin-chat
White-chinned Prinia
White-crested Turaco
White-crowned Lapwing
White-headed Barbet
White-headed Vulture
White-headed Woodhoopoe
White-tailed Lark
White-throated Bee Eater
White-winged Black Tit
White-winged Warbler
Woodland Kingfisher
Yellow-billed Kite
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Yellow-billed Stork
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird

Non-native Birds

African Citril
Capped Wheatear
Gambaga Flycatcher
House Sparrow
Magpie Starling
Rock Pigeon
Sassi’s Greenbul
Somali Bunting
Tawny Pipit

Some of Uganda’s best places to go birding include Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Murchison Falls National Park. The peak season for birdwatching in Uganda generally coincides with the country’s two dry seasons (December to February and June to August), which offer the best birding conditions and opportunities for spotting various species.