+256 704 183 074 info@snapugandatours.com
+256 704 183 074 info@snapugandatours.com

Mabira Forest

Location:

 55km from Kampala via Jinja- Kampala Highway.

30km from Jinja to Rain Forest Lodge.

Coordinates: 0.3958909, 33.0076504

Mabira Forest is one of Uganda’s last remaining tropical rainforests providing a peaceful retreat for nature lovers and also a habitat for rare, endangered and endemic wildlife.

The 314 km2 Forest is Uganda’s only urban jungle located between two major urban centers of Kampala and Jinja. The forest centre is on the edge of Najjembe Trading Centre, whose roadside market is famous for roast chicken and gonja (plantain).

Mabira’s Botanical Wonders

Mabira Forest is a botanical treasure trove and Nature’s Pharmacy with 312 tree and 218 butterfly species. Some trees are estimated to be 80 to 100 years old. Some of the important tree species in Mabira are: Diphasia angolensis not known to occur elsewhere in Uganda and Warbhugia Ugandenesis which is known to cure over forty ailments and the vulnerable Prunus.

The Warbhugia ugandenesis tree is also used in traditional medicine to treat over 40 ailments while the vulnerable Prunus africana is highly valued for its medicinal extracts.

Warbhugia Ugandenesis and Prunus africana trees were among the only three components the local scientists used in the formation of Covidex, a local ointment that was used to treat the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

 Other tree species of international conservation concern are: 

  • Cordia Millenii, Militia Excelsa,
  • Irvingia gabonensis,
  • Entandrophragma angolense,
  • Lovoa swynnertonii,

Birding in Mabira Forest

For birders, Mabira is Haven for Birdwatchers and thus a prime birding destination in Uganda.  The forest boasts of over 300 recorded species of both forest and woodland birds with 74 of the 144 species of Guinea-Congo Forests biome that occur in Uganda.  The forest has well-marked trails for easy exploration and birding activities.

  • The hottest item in the birding menu is the Nahan’s Francolin which is on the IUCN Red list of endangered species. While on your birding tour in Mabira Forest Reserve, expect to spot birds such as:
  • Nahan’s Francolin
  • Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
  • African Dwarf Kingfisher
  • Great Blue Turaco
  • Sabine’s and Cassin’s Spinetails
  • Fire-crested Alethe
  • Red-capped Robin-Chat,
  • African Grey Parrot,
  • Blue-throated Roller among others.

Birds in Mabira:

  1. Toro Olive-Greenbul Phyllastrephus hypochloris
  2. Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus

Green Hylia  Hylia prasina

  1. Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca
  2. Speckled Pigeon Columba guinea
  3. Red-eyed Dove Streptopelia semitorquata
  4. Shikra Tachyspiza badia
  5. Black Kite Milvus migrans
  6. Speckled Mousebird Colius striatus
  7. Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill Bycanistes subcylindricus
  8. Gray Parrot Psittacus erithacus
  9. Meyer’s Parrot Poicephalus meyeri
  10. Pied Crow Corvus albus
  11. Winding Cisticola Cisticola marginatus
  12. Fan-tailed Widowbird Euplectes axillaris
  13. Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris
  14. Great Blue Turaco Corythaeola cristata
  15. Eastern Plantain-eater Crinifer zonurus
  16. Dideric Cuckoo Chrysococcyx caprius
  17. Klaas’s Cuckoo Chrysococcyx klaas
  18. African Emerald Cuckoo Chrysococcyx cupreus
  19. Black Cuckoo Cuculus clamosus
  20. Red-chested Cuckoo Cuculus solitarius
  21. Freckled Nightjar Caprimulgus tristigma
  22. Marabou Stork Leptoptilos crumenifer
  23. Lizard Buzzard Kaupifalco monogrammicus
  24. Western Barn Owl Tyto alba
  25. Woodland Kingfisher Halcyon senegalensis
  26. Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet Trachylaemus purpuratus
  27. Speckled Tinkerbird Pogoniulus scolopaceus
  28. Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird Pogoniulus bilineatus
  29. Double-toothed Barbet Pogonornis bidentatus
  30. Brown-throated Wattle-eye Platysteira cyanea
  31. White-headed Sawwing Psalidoprocne albiceps
  32. Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus
  33. African Thrush Turdus pelios
  34. Fire-crested Alethe Alethe castanea
  35. Collared Sunbird Hedydipna collaris
  36. Green-headed Sunbird Cyanomitra verticalis
  37. Scarlet-chested Sunbird Chalcomitra senegalensis
  38. Olive-bellied Sunbird Cinnyris chloropygius
  39. Red-chested Sunbird Cinnyris erythrocercus
  40. Variable Sunbird Cinnyris venustus
  41. Village Weaver Ploceus cucullatus
  42. Grosbeak Weaver Amblyospiza albifrons
  43. Black-and-white Mannikin Spermestes bicolor
  44. Black-crowned Waxbill Estrilda nonnula
  45. Pin-tailed Whydah Vidua macroura
  46. Yellow-throated Longclaw Macronyx croceus
  47. Trilling Cisticola Cisticola woosnami
  48. Black-billed Turaco Tauraco schuettii
  49. Blue Malkoha Ceuthmochares aereus
  50. Little Swift Apus affinis
  51. Congo Pied Hornbill Lophoceros fasciatus
  52. Velvet-mantled Drongo Dicrurus modestus
  53. Little Greenbul Eurillas virens
  54. Green White-eye Zosterops stuhlmanni
  55. Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush Stizorhina fraseri
  56. Yellow-breasted Forest Robin Stiphrornis mabirae
  57. Forest Scimitarbill Rhinopomastus castaneiceps
  58. Gray-throated Barbet Gymnobucco bonapartei
  59. Yellow-throated Tinkerbird Pogoniulus subsulphureus
  60. Yellow-spotted Barbet Buccanodon duchaillui
  61. Hairy-breasted Barbet Tricholaema hirsuta
  62. Red-headed Malimbe Malimbus rubricollis
  63. Gray-chinned Sunbird Anthreptes tephrolaemus
  64. Tambourine Dove Turtur tympanistria
  65. African Harrier-Hawk Polyboroides typus
  66. White-throated Bee-eater Merops albicollis
  67. Western Black-headed Oriole Oriolus brachyrynchus
  68. Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone rufiventer
  69. African Blue Flycatcher Elminia longicauda
  70. Lesser Striped Swallow Cecropis abyssinica
  71. White-throated Greenbul Phyllastrephus albigularis
  72. Northern Yellow White-eye Zosterops senegalensis
  73. Purple-headed Starling Hylopsar purpureiceps
  74. African Dusky Flycatcher Muscicapa adusta
  75. Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat Cossypha niveicapilla
  76. Black-necked Weaver Ploceus nigricollis
  77. Weyns’s Weaver Ploceus weynsi
  78. Bronze Mannikin Spermestes cucullata
  79. Red-billed Firefinch Lagonosticta senegala
  80. African Pied Wagtail Motacilla aguimp
  81. Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo Cercococcyx mechowi
  82. White-rumped Swift Apus caffer
  83. African Pygmy Kingfisher Ispidina picta
  84. Brown-eared Woodpecker Pardipicus caroli
  85. Black Cuckooshrike Campephaga flava
  86. Jameson’s Wattle-eye Platysteira jamesoni
  87. African Shrike-flycatcher Megabyas flammulatus
  88. Green-backed Camaroptera Camaroptera brachyura
  89. Olive-green Camaroptera Camaroptera chloronota
  90. Buff-throated Apalis Apalis rufogularis
  91. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
  92. Slender-billed Greenbul Stelgidillas gracilirostris
  93. Red-tailed Bristlebill Bleda syndactylus
  94. Yellow-eyed Bristlebill Bleda ugandae
  95. Red-tailed Greenbul Criniger calurus
  96. Plain Greenbul Eurillas curvirostris
  97. Scaly-breasted Illadopsis Illadopsis albipectus
  1. Olive Bee-eater Merops superciliosus
  1. African Gray Woodpecker Dendropicos goertae
  2. Gray-headed Bushshrike Malaconotus blanchoti
  3. White-tailed Ant-Thrush Neocossyphus poensis
  4. Giant Kingfisher Megaceryle maxima
  5. Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus
  6. Mourning Collared-Dove Streptopelia decipiens
  7. Red-headed Weaver Anaplectes rubriceps
  8. White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis
  9. Northern Red Bishop Euplectes franciscanus
  10. Brown-backed Woodpecker Dendropicos obsoletus
  11. White-crested Turaco Tauraco leucolophus
  12. Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike Campephaga phoenicea
  13. Pied Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus
  14. Greater Blue-eared Starling Lamprotornis chalybaeus
  15. Western Black-headed Batis Batis erlangeri
  16. Bat Hawk Macheiramphus alcinus
  17. Yellow-billed Duck Anas undulata
  18. Cardinal Quelea Quelea cardinalis
  19. Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus
  20. African Pygmy-Goose Nettapus auritus
  21. Red-chested Flufftail Sarothrura rufa
  22. Lesser Jacana Microparra capensis
  23. Goliath Heron Ardea goliath

Source: eBird

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