Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda's most popular and largest national park, over 1500 square miles, bisected by the Victoria Nile. The powerful waterfall on the Victoria Nile squeezes the entire flow of the river through an 8-meter-wide chasm, dropping 40 meters through the Rift Valley Escarpment.
The north side of the park, north of the Victoria Nile, has more wildlife, particularly lions, elephants, hippos, Cape buffalo, and Rothschild's giraffes. The park has 144 species of mammals, 556 species of birds including 53 raptors, 51 amphibians, and 51 reptiles including Uganda's largest population of Nile crocodiles.
Mammals:
Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibious
African bush elephant, Loxodonta africana
Rothschild's giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalus rothschildi
Primates:
Monkeys:
Common patas monkey, Erythrocebus (Cercopithecus)patas
Black-and-white colobus monkey (mantled guereza), Colobus guereza
Olive baboons, Papio anubis:
Antelopes:
Defassa waterbuck (male, left, female, right), Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa
Lelwel (Jackon's) hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus lelwel
Ugandan kob, Kobus kob thomasi
Oribi, Ourebia ourebi (male, left, female with calf, right)
Cape buffalo, Syncerus caffer
Common warthog, Phacochoerus africanus
Bats:
Yellow-winged bat, Lavia frons
Predators:
Spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta
Lion, Panthera leo
Leopard, Panthera pardus
Side-striped jackal, Canis adustus:
Birds:
Hildebrandt's spurfowl, Pternistis hildebrandti
Helmeted guineafowl, Numida meleagris
Red-cheeked cordon-bleu, Uraeginthus bengalus
Fan-tailed widowbird, Euplectes axillaris (identification uncertain)
Northern red bishop, Euplectus franciscanus
Black-rumped waxbill, Estrilda troglodytes
Denham's bustard, Neotis denhami
Grey-backed fiscal, Lanius excubitoroides
Banded martin, Neophedina cincta
Hunter's cisticola, Cisticola hunteri
Sooty chat, Myrmecochichla nigra
White-tailed lark, Mirafra albicauda (identification uncertain)
Fork-tailed drongo, Dicrurus adsimilis
Mousebirds: scramble through brush and trees using both their feet and bills.
Blue-naped mousebird, Urocolius macrourus
Speckled mousebird, Colius striatus
White-headed mousebird, Colius leucocephalus
Bee-eaters:
Little bee-eater, Merops pusillus (adult left, juvenile right)
Northerm carmine bee-eater, Merops nubicus
Red-throated bee-eater, Merops bulocki
Doves:
Mourning collared dove, Streptopelia decipiens
Emerald-spotted wood-dove, Turtur Chalcospilos
Yellow-billed oxpecker, Buphagus africanus
Piapiacs, Ptilostomus afer
Black-billled barbet, Lybius guifsobalito
Weavers:
Speke's weaver, Ploceus spekei
Vieillot's black weaver, Ploceus nigerrimus
Speckle-fronted weaver, Sporopipes frontalis
Holub's golden weaver, Ploceus xanthops (male left, female right)
Singing bush lark, Mirafra cantillans (identification uncertain)
Joyful greenbul, Chlorocichla laetissima
Wing-snapping cisticola, Cisticola ayresii
Queleas: Weaver-like flocking birds
Red-headed quelea, Quelea erythrops
Red-billed quelea, Quelea quelea (mixed quelea flock, right photograph)
Black-throated wattle-eye, Platysteira peltata
Silverbird, Empidornis semipartitus (the bird on the right in the left image is immature)
Barn swallow, Hirundo rustica
Moustached grass warbler, Melocichla mentalis
White-browed coucal, Centropus superciliosus
Water thick-knee, Burhinus vermiculatus
Black-headed gonolek, Laniarius erythrogaster
Hornbills:
Abyssinian ground hornbill, Bucorvus abyssinicus (female left, male right)
African grey hornbill, Lophoceros nasutus
Nubian woodpecker, Campethera nubica
Water birds:
Black crake, Amaurornis flavirostra
Egyptian geese, Alopochan awgyptiaca
Ducks:
White-faced whistling duck, Dendrocygna viduata
Knob-billed duck, Sarkidiornis melanotos
Storks:
Yellow-billed stork, Mycteria ibis
African open-billed stork (African openbill), Anastomus lameligenus
Saddle-billed stork, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis
African skimmers, Rynchops flavirostris
African darter (snakebird), Anhinga rufa
Egrets:
Great white egret, Ardea alba
Cattle egrets, Bubulcus ibis
Herons:
Purple heron, Ardea purpurea
Grey heron, Ardea cinerea
Goliath heron, Ardea goliath
African jacana, Actophilornis africanus
Lapwings:
Brown-chested lapwing, Vanellus superciliosus
Spur-winged lapwing, Vanellus spinosus
Black-headed lapwing, Vanellus tectus
Hadada ibis (Hadeda ibis), Bostrychia hagedash
Grey crowned crane, Balearica regulorum
Kingfishers:
Pied kingfisher, Ceryle rudis
Blue-breasted kingfisher, Halcyon malimbica
Grey-headed kingfisher, Halcyon leucocephala (adult left, juvenile right)
Woodland kingfisher, Halcyon senegalensis
Giant kingfisher, Megaceryle maxima
Greater painted-snipe, Rostratula benghalensis
Raptors:
Grey kestrel, Falco ardosiaceus
African harrier hawk, Polyboroides typus
Brown snake eagle, Circaetus cinereus
African fish eagle, Haliaaeetus vocifer
Long-crested eagle, Lophaetus occipitalis adult, left, immature, right two photographs)
Bateleur (immature), Terathopius ecaudatus
Osprey, Pandion haliaetus
Steppe eagle, Aquila nipalensis
Vultures:
Ruppell's vulture, Gyps rueppelli (immature, right image)
Palmnut vulture, Gypohierax angolensis
Reptiles:
Finch's agama, Agama finchi
Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus
NOTE: We are not experts on East African birds. If you find we have misidentified one, please email us the correct information and we will fix it.
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Last modified 21 May 2023