Mount Elgon National Park is situated in Eastern Uganda at the Kenya-Uganda border and covers a surface Area of 4000 square kilometers making it the Volcano with the largest base in the world and covers an area of 1,121 square kilometers/433 square miles. With the rich vegetation types that range from the Lowland Montane forests to the high Open moorland Vegetation characterized by rare plant, wildlife and bird species. The vegetation zones/types depend and vary according to the Altitude which is the reason you should visit for the fascinating bird species.
This park is a bird watcher’s Paradise with over 300 bird species including 56 of the 87 Afro-tropical highland biome bird species, with the popular ones being the Alpine Chat, Moustached Green Tinkerbird and Moorland Francolin. Also 40 of these bird species are restricted to this park.
Mount Elgon has excellent bird watching points for example around Kapkwai Forest Exploration Centre, the dense shrub along the loop trails that cover an extensive area including Cheptui Falls. The notable bird species here include Bronze-naped pigeons, African Goshawk, Dohertys Bush-shrikes, Bronze-naped pigeons, Cinnamon Bee Eater, Baglafecht Weaver, Black-collared Apalis, African Blue Fly-catcher, Golden winged sunbirds, Chinspot Batis, Chin spot Batis, Moustached Tinkerbird, Chubb’s Cisticola, Black Kite, Baglafecht weaver, Chinspot Batis, Tacazze Sunbird, Olive-naped pigeons, Ross’s and Hartlaubs Turaco, White-chinned Prinia, Luhders Bush-shrikes, Hartloub`s Turaco and Mackinnon’s Fiscal.
There are also some bird species that are native and limited to Mount Elgon National park only and they include Tacazze Sunbird, Black-collared Apalis, shouldered Kite and Jackson’s Francolin. One interesting thing about birding in this park is that it is one of the special destinations where you will get the opportunity to encounter the endangered Lammergeyer that roams above the breathtaking Caldera and the Suam Gorge.
The existence of all these mesmerizing bird species in Mount Elgon national park makes it one of the top bird watching destinations in Uganda. Besides bird watching, other activities you can participate in while at Mount Elgon National park include Sport fishing around the magnificent Sipi Falls, Camping, Mountain climbing, mountain biking/cycling, hiking/nature walks, Game drives, Cave Explorations and cultural encounters (Imbalu dances by the Bagisu and Sabiny cultures) which spice up your safari experience in Mount Elgon National park.
Before you consider travelling to this spectacular destination for bird watching, make sure you have packed your camera to help you capture and keep memories of the beautiful birds you have encountered, binoculars to allow viewing of near and far bird species, rain jacket and sweater because of the altitude of the area and rainproof hiking boots. The best time to visit the park for bird watching is the rainy season from March to May and September to November because it is the breeding season of the birds and also ideal for seeing the migratory bird species.
How to Reach Mount Elgon National Park
The park is about 235 kilometers East/3-4 hours drive from Kampala, with the commonly used route being Kampala-Jinja-Mbale then several murram routes that will lead to the Park. One of the routes/trailhead is that of Budadiri, that is 12 miles from Mbale Town.
Therefore, Mount Elgon national Park is one of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Uganda because over 300 species of birds call this park home. If you are interested in watching unique Mountain bird species, then add this park in your bird watching bucket list and you will have an unforgettable bird watching experience.