Queen Elizabeth National Park Birding
Queen Elizabeth National Park holds 606 bird species — one of the highest counts of any national park in Africa. Located in western Uganda between Lake George and Lake Edward, the park's mosaic of savannah, forest, wetland and crater lake habitats supports extraordinary bird diversity including the shoebill stork on the Kazinga Channel boat trip.
Kazinga Channel Boat Safari
The Kazinga Channel connects Lake George and Lake Edward and is Uganda's best boat birding experience. A 2-hour boat trip passes hundreds of hippos, buffaloes and elephants on the shore while birders scan for shoebill stork, African skimmer, pink-backed pelican, goliath heron, malachite kingfisher, pied kingfisher, African fish eagle, various herons and egrets, waders and an astonishing array of waterbirds. The shoebill is seen on the majority of boat trips.
Ishasha Sector and Tree-Climbing Lions
The Ishasha sector in the south of the park is famous for tree-climbing lions — but also holds excellent birds. Flappet lark, Shelley's francolin, grey-crowned crane, African wattled lapwing and many raptors are found here. The drive between Ishasha and Mweya offers some of the best roadside birding in the park.
Maramagambo Forest
The Maramagambo Forest within Queen Elizabeth NP adds forest species to the park list including African green broadbill, yellow-rumped tinkerbird and various forest flycatchers. Bat-roosting caves in the forest are home to large colonies of fruit bats and the endemic Maramagambo bat-hawk. Contact us to include Queen Elizabeth in your Uganda birding tour.