Where to see flamingos in Uganda

Where to see flamingos in Uganda : Where to find flamingos in Uganda for a surefire chance to observe them on a safari through the country: Queen Elizabeth National Park. On your bird watching safari in Uganda, the flamingos can be spotted.

Does Uganda have Flamingos?

With over 1078 different bird species, Uganda is a fantastic birding safari destination in Africa. The existence of flamingos as a bird species in Uganda has been questioned given the abundance of flamingos in the East African nations. Yes, Lesser Flamingos can be seen in Uganda. Tourists on Ugandan birding safaris can observe them at Lake Munyanyange in the Katwe region of Queen Elizabeth National Park. A small, shallow crater lake called Lake Munyanyange is situated to the northeast of Katwe, a town in the Salt Lake region. With one of the highest numbers of smaller black-backed gulls, Larus fuscus, and other waders, the lake is a crucial habitat for migratory birds. The White Browed Robbin Chats, Flamingos, Desert Cisticolas, and many other migratory birds flock to Lake Munyanyange from places as far away as Kenya and Canada. Due to the 600 different bird species that call Queen Elizabeth National Park home, it is also a favourite site for Uganda safaris for birding.

The Lesser Flamingo, known scientifically as Phoeniconaias minor, is one of the unusual bird species that birders on safari in Uganda have investigated.

Lesser Flamingos are the only species in the Phoeniconaias genus, which is known to be a kind of flamingo that thrives in sub-Saharan Africa and some areas of India. Although it is generally accepted that the Lesser Flamingo is a huge and tall bird, as seen on Uganda bird-watching safaris, it is listed as the smallest of all the flamingo species. Its height ranges from 80 to 90 cm, and its weight ranges from 1.2 to 2.7kg. The body length, which is equivalent to the wingspan, ranges from 90 to 105 cm from the beak to the tail. The Lesser Flamingo has pinkish white feathers.

 It mostly consumes Spirulina and the algae found in alkaline lakes, just like at Lake Munyanyange, a popular tourist safari in Uganda. Lesser flamingos construct a 30 cm-long mud nest during breeding in order to minimise floods and maintain a cool environment. Each bird lays a single egg, which both parents incubate for twenty-eight (28) days in shifts of 24 hours each. After hatching, the grey chick swallows its shell before being nourished by its parents for a few months on a liquid soup. The chicks quickly join the nurseries, which can number in the thousands.

Other saline crater lakes in South-Western Uganda include Kasenyi, Bagusa, Maseche, Nshenyi, and Nyamunuka, where the Lesser Flamingo can also be found. These locations are all inside the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area or close by.

Best time to see flamingos in Uganda.

 These birds are Palearctic migrants arriving at Lake Munyanyange in October and departing in April. Thousands of these birds rest at the lake. As its safe for them during the year, as it can be muddy that hinders the animal species to come and prey on them, as the birds can be located in the middle of the lake.