Best time to go bird Watching In Uganda – August to mid September Just before the rains get Intense.
There are a number of things to consider before deciding on the best time to go bird watching In Uganda. Among them the most important being weather & climate.
Uganda’s Weather & climate is rather variable, but to generalize, one could say that the southern part of the country has two rainy (March-May, September-November) and two dry seasons (June-August, December-February), none of which is usually severe. Going north, there is a transition into one wet (normally late March to early November, June – August somewhat drier) and one dry (and hot) season (November-March) in the Budongo / Murchison Falls area. In a dry year, this long dry season in reality is a drought.
Getting back to the gist of this article ” Best time to go bird Watching In Uganda”, the actual best time to go bird watching in Uganda is from late May through September. To be more specific, probably the very best time overall is late August through early to mid September. The main nesting season in Bwindi and Mgahinga (key sites for the Albertine Rift Endemics) is May and June so this could also be your first choice (depending on your priorities, of course) – e.g. African Green Broad-bill is often easier to find in May/June than in August/September.
The northern summer is the main fruiting season in most of the forests and seeds are plentiful in the open areas – in other words, food is abundant and so are the birds. Another advantage of this time of year is that widow birds, bishops, quealea’s etc. are in breeding plumage. Also, there are large numbers of spectacular butterflies to enjoy in the northern summer. Actually, the only disadvantage is that June through September is also a nice time where most birders live (northern Europe and North America).
Another good time to go birding in Uganda is late March through early April, i.e. after the rains have started and cooled down the north a bit and caused the forest birds to start vocalizing, but before the rains become too heavy for birding to be pleasant. The food supply is not yet so good, though, and bird populations are low.
Which time of the year is Considered Not the Best time to go bird Watching In Uganda?
The worst time to go birding in Uganda is February (especially mid to late February and early March), particularly in the north (unpleasantly hot and dry and no fruits or seeds).
February is a horrible time to visit Budongo and Murchison Falls!. However, late February / early March is a very good time to visit Semliki National Park which only has one dry season (December through to February) and can be unpleasantly wet the rest of the year.
Other periods you may want to avoid is mid-April/mid-May and October/mid-November when Bwindi may be too wet for birding to be enjoyable and minor roads can become very bad indeed, perhaps impassable (at least in wet season), and you may lose precious birding time stuck. Birds are very active during the rains, though.
If you insist on escaping the northern winter, December/January should normally be fine as the heat and drought is typically not yet too bad in north Uganda ( Kidepo, Murchisons fall & Budongo). And if it is not a dry year, any time in winter is fine. The southernmost part of Uganda (Bwindi Forest, Mgahinga National Park, Lake Mburo National Park) should always be good, and Shoe-bill can be seen at any time of the year!
Our recommendation: Any time of year is good for bird watching in Uganda – but the northern summer is clearly our recommendation for the best time to go bird watching in Uganda.
What is the ideal trip duration for bird watching in Uganda?
The ideal trip duration highly depends on one’s interest and or expectations. Otherwise if you want to cover as many areas as there is to cover whilst wanting to check off as many birds off Uganda’s over 1000 bird-list, we recommend you to spend at least 3 ½ weeks /24 days. However, if your group includes non-birders, we caution that 24 days will probably be too long a trip. Uganda’s main attractions for non-birders are the mountain gorillas, chimpanzees and Grade 5 white water Rafting in Jinja. While Uganda National park are worth a visit, we like to emphasis that the are remote and are off the beaten touristic path – If you are looking for animals, Uganda is the wrong country to visit but if your are a discerning tourist looking for an experience, then Uganda is the place for you.
Kidepo Valley National Park in the far northeast corner of Uganda is an additional area which is definitely worth a visit, both for mammals, spectacular bird life and the Ik Cultural experience – No other park in Uganda beats Kidepo.
Our recommendation: We advise that you allocate 3-4 weeks to allow for an enjoyable bird Watching tour in Uganda.
We hope this article on “Best time to go bird Watching In Uganda” has been helpful to you – email us or directly comment below with suggestions or any viatl information that you think we might have left out of our “Best time to go bird Watching article.
Best time to go bird Watching In Uganda Best time to go bird Watching In Uganda Best time to go bird Watching In Uganda Best time to go bird Watching In Uganda
