Uganda

Bwindi

Information

SITE RANK

24

HABITAT Forest from 1,160 m to 2,607 m, swamp, scrub

KEY SPECIES Grauer’s Broadbill, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Black Bee-eater, Neumann’s Warbler, Grauer’s Swamp Warbler, Regal and Purple-breasted Sunbird, Red-throated Alethe, Equatorial Akalat, White-starred Robin, Jameson’s Antpecker

TIME OF YEAR All year round

A Black Bee-eater watches out for flying insects from an elevated perch beside a forest clearing.

The wonderfully evocative name of southwest Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park gives the impression that you will be faced by a wall of vegetation too thick to pass. In fact, though, the name refers less to the nature of its forests, which are no more impenetrable than others in east Africa, than to its exceptionally tricky terrain. The area consists of alarmingly steep ridges and plunging valleys, all covered in gloriously untouched forest and made all the more awkward to negotiate by the humidity and by the slippery nature of some of the trails. It is one of the few places in east Africa where the transition from low-altitude primary forest to montane forest is fully encompassed within a single national park, untouched and seamless.

Although quite a small park, at 331 sq km, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is legendary among birders. This is not just because it is exceptionally rich in species, with 347 having been recorded so far, but it also plays host to a large number (23) of restricted-range birds that are endemic to the western slope of the Rift Valley, the so-called Albertine Rift. Since the rest of the range of these birds is within the politically troubled Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Bwindi is just about the only place where they can be seen and enjoyed.

This area is part of what used to be an enormous forest that once covered much of western Uganda, as well as Rwanda, Burundi and the nearby DRC. This great block is very ancient (25,000 years’ old), and is thought to have been one of the Pleistocene Refugia that survived through the last ice ages. This, along with its altitudinal range, explains its diversity. In addition to its birds, the forest holds more than 200 species of butterfly (including the almost mythical Giant African Swallowtail) and an incredible 120 species of mammal. Of the latter, the Chimpanzees and Mountain Gorillas make Bwindi a major ecotourism destination. Several groups of gorillas in the forest have been habituated to people and can be visited for an hour a day by groups of up to eight people. Even the most obsessed birders inevitably find themselves on one of these incomparable gorilla-tracking adventures.

Nevertheless, once you’ve had your audience with the gorillas, you can concentrate on the birding. Most independent travellers and visiting groups allow themselves at least three or four days for this, beginning in the lowlands around Buhoma (near to the gorilla camp, where the treks begin) and finishing in the highlands around Ruhija. Most of the Albertine Rift endemics are found in the highlands, but the highest biodiversity is lower down.

The forests around Buhoma have an unusually visible canopy, so birds that would be very difficult to see in similar habitats elsewhere can sometimes be watched at leisure here. These include the Dusky and Olive Long-tailed Cuckoos, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Bar-tailed Trogon, various woodpeckers and the splendid White-headed Wood Hoopoe, which is usually encountered in noisy groups of ten or more. Such access also allows for scrutiny of that widespread forest phenomenon, the mixed feeding flock, and among the many small insectivores you can expect to find Shelley’s and Red-tailed Greenbuls, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher and that delightful, brilliantly blushing Phylloscopus, the Red-faced Woodland Warbler. Meanwhile, a range of sunbirds, including Northern Double-collared, Green-throated and Blue-headed, are attracted to flowering trees, while six species of forest starling seek out fruit. These include the rare, glossy-blue Stuhlmann’s Starling, Sharpe’s Starling with its orange breast, and the Narrow-tailed and Purple-headed Starlings, here reaching the eastern limits of their ranges.

In the lower forest strata live a suite of altogether more skulking birds. Among these are a guild that have a habit of following swarms of driver ants or army ants, often spending much time perching motionless just above the ground. These include the unobtrusive Equatorial Akalat, with its truncated single-burst song, the White-starred Robin and two localized species, the endemic Red-throated Alethe, the dominant bird among the ant-followers, and the bicoloured Grey-chested Babbler. Other birds feed at ants’ nests, including the Jameson’s Antpecker, a peculiar estrildid finch of the forest undergrowth.

At Bwindi, you can tell how high up you are by the mix of birds. For example, if you are below 1,600 m, you can expect to see the European Robin-like White-bellied Robin-Chat gleaning the foliage. Above this height, however, a similar, related species takes over, the endemic Archer’s Ground Robin, distinguished from its relative by a thin white supercilium. Similarly, in the misty highland forests, festooned with epiphytes and clothed in moss, flowering trees attract two sensational sunbirds, the brilliantly yellow-and-red-breasted Regal Sunbird, and the remarkable Purple-breasted Sunbird with its range of iridescent purple and bronze hues. Other endemics found at this height include the Stripe-breasted Tit, the smart Dusky Crimsonwing and the oddly-named Strange Weaver, which is undoubtedly rare but not particularly unusual to look at.

No trip to Ruhija, or indeed to Bwindi, is complete without the famously laborious three-hour trek down to the Mubwindi Swamp, in the east of the park. Many of the highland specialities can be seen along the way, while the swamp itself attracts a number of exceptionally rare birds. The most sought-after is probably the almost mythical Grauer’s Broadbill, a small green-and-blue species whose main attraction is the fact that hardly anyone has ever seen it. In recent years, however, researchers have managed to find a few nests of this Albertine Rift endemic – quite a feat for such a small, quiet and annoyingly elusive bird. The other main attraction is Grauer’s Swamp Warbler, a long-tailed brown skulker with a spotted throat and breast, which is found in marshy vegetation. Another skulker that can be seen here and elsewhere in the forests is the splendid Neumann’s Warbler. It is a rare endemic which is very difficult to see – two irresistible attributes to the obsessive, and it also looks unusual; its tail is so short that it simply looks like a small bird that has had an accident at the back.

While you are searching for these difficult birds, Black Bee-eaters often provide some welcome glamour as they perch on dead tree stumps and sally for insects. At Bwindi you never know what might draw your eye next. That is one of the charms of this wonderful forest.

The highly distinctive White-headed Wood Hoopoe is one of the more widespread forest birds at Bwindi.

The impenetrable nature of the forest refers more to its tricky, undulating terrain than the trees themselves.