Lake Mburo National Park Birding

Lake Mburo National Park Birding

Lake Mburo National Park is Uganda's smallest national park but offers excellent and varied birding in a compact area. The park combines acacia savannah, papyrus swamp, open lake and seasonally flooded grassland habitats for over 350 bird species, including the shoebill stork in the papyrus swamps.

Papyrus Specialists

Lake Mburo's papyrus swamps hold several highly sought-after papyrus specialist species: papyrus gonolek (reliable and approachable here), white-winged warbler, lesser swamp warbler, papyrus yellow warbler, African finfoot and, occasionally, shoebill stork. A morning boat trip on Lake Mburo targeting these papyrus species is one of the most productive birding sessions in western Uganda.

Savannah and Woodland Species

The acacia savannah holds African wattled lapwing, red-faced barbet, D'Arnaud's barbet, bare-faced go-away bird, African grey hornbill, crested francolin, rufous-naped lark and an excellent diversity of raptors including bateleur and African hawk-eagle. Lake Mburo is also one of the few places in Uganda where the rare and localised stripe-breasted tit can be reliably found.

Location and Logistics

Lake Mburo is ideally positioned 3.5 hours from Kampala on the road to Mbarara, making it an excellent stop on the drive to Bwindi, Queen Elizabeth or Kibale. One night is sufficient for the key species. Contact us to add Lake Mburo to your Uganda birding circuit.