Uganda for Birds-Uganda tours,Uganda birding tours

Uganda birders and Tourism Minister Maria Mutagamba enjoys a view of birds at Kasenge Forest in Mbalala, Mukono District at the weekend. The news of the country being a key bird watching destination will boost the tourism sector.
According to Birdlife International and Nature Uganda, the country accounts for 50 per cent of Africa’s bird species.
Uganda has been declared a preferred bird watching destination 2013/14 a development expected to promote birding and uphold the country as a major tourist destination. Among the Uganda birding tours can be done at Mabira Eco tours/safaris, Budongo forest where you can bird at Kaniyo-pabidi site, Bwindi impenetrable national park, Ngamba islands chimpanzee tours/safaris, Mabamba bay birding site among others
The declaration by the government was made after Birdlife International, a global programme on conservation and protection of birds and their habitats, and Nature Uganda announced that there were 34 important bird watching areas in Uganda, with diverse bird species. It only in Uganda where you can search the Shoe bills at Mabamba bay, Ssezibwa falls, Ziwa rhino sanctuary, Bigodi wetland, Entebbe gardens hotel and the shores of River Nile at Murchison falls national park
Uganda a preferred bird watching destination as we begin our journey through the next 50 years as we mark the country’s independence jubilee celebrations,” the Minister for Tourism, Ms Maria Mutagamba, said during the launch of the birding campaign that attracted various birders and guides at Kasenge Forest Resort Beach in Mukono District at the weekend. Birding can be also enjoyed at Mabira reserve forest where you can do Eco tours and safaris, Bike cycling, nature and forest camping, community walk and enjoy local snacks like roasted chicken at Najjembe local market with the Mabira forest reserve an Eco tourism destination.
Ms Mutagamba said they had been priding in the recent accolades by Lonely Planet, which voted Uganda as the best tourism destination for 2012 and Africa Bird Club, which voted Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Africa’s number one birding site.
The minister said the accolades provide an important avenue for showcasing Uganda’s rich bird diversity, accounting for 10 per cent of the world’s total bird species and 50 per cent of Africa’s bird species population.

Below are some of bird species

Non-passerines: Ostriches . Grebes. Shearwaters and Petrels . Pelicans . Cormorants . Darters . Bitterns, Herons and Egrets . Hammer kop . Storks . Shoebill . Ibises and Spoonbills . Flamingos . Ducks, Geese and Swans . Osprey . Hawks, Kites and Eagles . Secretary-bird . Caracaras and Falcons . Pheasants and Partridges . Guinea fowl . Buttonquails . Cranes . Rails, Crakes, Gallinules, and Coots . Sun grebe and Fin foots . Bustards . Jacanas . Painted snipe . Oystercatchers . Avocets and Stilts . Thick-knees . Pratincoles and Coursers . Plovers and Lapwings . Sandpipers and allies . Gulls . Terns . Skimmers . Sand grouse . Pigeons and Doves . Parrots . Turacos . Cuckoos . Barn owls . Typical owls . Nightjars . Swifts . Mouse birds . Trogons and Quetzals . Kingfishers . Bee-eaters . Typical Rollers . Hoopoes . Wood hoopoes . Hornbills . Barbets . Honey guides . Woodpeckers and allies .

Passerines: Broadbills . Pitas . Larks . Swallows and Martins . Wagtails and Pipits . Cuckoo-shrikes . Bulbuls . Thrushes and allies . Cisticolas and allies . Old World warblers . Old World flycatchers . Wattle-eyes . Monarch flycatchers . Babblers . Tits . Tree creepers . Penduline tits . Sunbirds and Spider hunters . White-eyes . Old World Orioles . Shrikes . Bush shrikes and allies . Helmet shrikes . Drongos . Crows, Jays, Ravens and Magpies . Starlings . Weavers and allies . Waxbills and allies . Indigo birds . Weavers and allies . Buntings, Sparrows, Seedeaters and allies . Siskins, Crossbills and allies . Sparrows .

Uganda jubilates for the increment of mountain gorillas

Of the 880 primates found in the world, more than 400 are in Ugandan forests.

After the celebration of Uganda @50, Uganda the pearl of Africa, celebrates again for an increase of the mountain gorillas the most visited tourism products at Bwindi forest hence increase of the revenue. Therefore it easier for the tourists to track gorillas at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park than any other destination. The amazing report was revealed yesterday by the ministry of Tourism and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). According to UWA, the latest census found that there was an increment by 60 gorillas to 340 counted in the last one in 2006.

This brought the gorilla population in Bwindi to 400 in addition to the 80 primates found on the Uganda tour side of Virunga Massif. The latest findings ranked Uganda highest in the world as far as gorilla population is concerned.

“The Ministry and other authorities are pleased to announce a considerable increase in the mountain gorilla population in Bwindi following a three-week census that was carried out in the park in September and October 2011,” Tourism Minister Maria Mutagamba said at the government Media Centre yesterday.

She said the population of mountain gorillas in Uganda had been confirmed to stand at a minimum of 400. The census was carried out by UWA with assistance from the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), the Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) in Democratic Republic of Congo and RDB from Rwanda.

Primate families

Currently, Ms Mutagamba said, there were 36 gorilla families at Bwindi and 16 solitary males. Of the 36 families, 10 are habituated for tourism and research. Following the two censuses carried out in the Virunga Massif and in Bwindi in 2011, it was confirmed that the world’s population of mountain gorillas now stands at 880.

The 2010 results showed that there were 480 mountain gorillas at Virunga Massif, which comprises the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (Uganda), Volcanoes National Park in (Rwanda) and Virunga National Park (DRC). The 400 gorillas which were confirmed are entirely in Uganda and this means that Uganda is the host to more than a half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas.

UWA Executive Director Andrew Sseguya said: “The increase in the population of mountain gorillas at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a testimony to the sound natural resources management policies that are being implemented in the protected areas.”

Dr Sseguya also dismissed claims that the increase in the number of gorillas at Bwindi could be attributed to the insurgency in the DR Congo. He said Bwindi was detached from Virunga Massif where Uganda, Congo and Rwanda share 480 gorillas, with Uganda having 80 of the 480. Therefore, this makes Uganda the highest in gorilla breeding, Dr Sseguya added.