Murchison Falls National Park Photo Gallery

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