Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s largest national park, covering approximately 4,000 km2. The Park supports a remarkable 451 species of birds.
Birding in Murchison Falls National Park has the main birding attraction being the Shoebill, best sighted in the dry season from January-March.
The commonest species found in the plains include the Marabou Stork, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Secretary Birds, Black-bellied Bustards, Open-billed Storks and Widow Bird.
Closer to the river where there are more thickets and woodlands, the commonest bird varieties include the Swallow-tailed and Red-throated Bee-eaters – particularly in the Nyamusika Cliffs; Woodland, Pied, Giant and Malachite Kingfishers; Francolin; Hornbills, Grey heron; Hamerkop; Shrikes; Flycatchers; Cuckoos; Woodpeckers; Crombecs and Warblers. The riverbanks are also home to ducks, geese, stilts and plovers.
The park’s main birding attraction is the Shoebill, best sighted in the dry season from January-March.
The list of bird species sighted when birding in Murchison
The Park boasts of a rich avifauna, with a Checklist of up to 460 bird species and 76 mammal species due to its large size and the full range of habitats. Murchison supports 20 species from three non-qualifying biomes: 11 species of Guinea-Congo Forests, six species of the Afro-tropical Highlands and 3 of the Somali–Masai biome. River Nile
The most sighted bird species of Murchison Falls National Park include:
- African Darter
- Goliath Heron
- Yellow-billed Stork
- Abdim’s Stork
- Shoebill
- White-faced Whistling Duck
- Secretary Bird
- Osprey
- Dark Chanting-Goshawk
- Martial Eagle
- Hugli’s Francolin
- Denham’s Bustard
- Spotted Thick-knee
- Senegal Thick-knee
- Rock Pratincole
- Black-headed Plover
- Long-toed Plover
- Black-billed Wood-Dove
- Veracious Dove
- Long Tailed Nightjar
- Standard-winged Nightjar
- Pennant-winged Nightjar
- Blue-naped Moosebird
- Giant Kingfisher
- Pied Kingfisher
- Malachite Kingfisher
- Swallow-tailed Bee-eater
- Red-throated Bee-eater
- Northern Carmine Bee-eater
- Black Scimitarbill
- Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
- Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
- Black-billed Barbet
- White-fronted Black Chat
- Silverbird
- Beautiful Sunbird
- Piapiac
- Speckle-fronted Weaver
- White-browed Sparrow Weaver
- Chestnut-crowned Sparrow Weaver
- Vaseline Masked Weaver
- Bar-breasted Firefinch
- White-rumped Seedeater
- Saddle-billed Stork
- Sacred Ibis
- Spur-winger Geese
- Black Crake
- Grey-crowned Crane
- Blue-naped Moosebird
- Spotted Morning Thrush
- Nothern Crombec
- Red-winged Grey Warbler
- Black-headed Batis
- Black-headed Gondola
- Grey-headed Bush Shrike
- Double-toothed Barbet
- Yellow-throated Greenbul
- Whistling Cisticola
- Black-lored Babbler
- Sulphur-breasted Bush Shrike
- Fawn-breasted Waxbill
- Black-faced Waxbill
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