African Thrush

I saw this African thrush on the hill between Nkima Forest Lodge and the Mabamba Swamp northwest of Entebbe, Uganda in July 2025. 

The flanks are pale buff-orange, the vent and the belly are white, the breast is grayish brown, the bill is yellow-orange, and it has dark olive-gray upperparts. There are nine subspecies and it looks like I saw ssp. centralis which is found from eastern Congo and southern CAR east to southern Ethiopia, western Kenya and northwestern Tanzania. 

Range from Birds of the World.

Kidepo Lark

The Kidepo Lark is a new species of lark established just recently as a result of molecular phylogenetic studies by a team of ornithologists published in 2023 and 2024.  It was previously considered a subspecies of the red-winged lark based on a specimen collected in southern South Sudan at Ero on the boundary of Didinga Hills with the plain of the Kidepo River. There are two subspecies, Corypha kidepoensis kathangorensis, found in southwestern Ethiopia and adjacent South Sudan and C. k. Kidepoensis, the nominate subspecies, found in northeastern Uganda and adjacent southeastern South Sudan.  

I was in Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda in July 2025. The following are photos I took of the Kidepo Lark while I was there. It is fun to have found such a localized endemic species so recently established. I found out about the new species while submitting it to iNaturalist for identification after I got home. 

The Kidepo lark has a prominent buffy supercilium; the crown and upperparts are brownish chestnut and fairly heavily dark streaked; rufous flight feathers form a rufous panel on the folded wing, although secondaries are browner with paler buff edges; the tail feathers are brown with buff outer edges; the underparts are variable, rufous to buff, the breast has black central streaking grading into dark rufous-brown streaking that coalesces to form a dark pectoral patch on the side of the breast (the patch is often inconspicuous when the plumage is worn); it has brown eyes; a bill with dark grayish horn above, paler and more pink below; the legs pale pink to grayish white, sometimes brownish pink. The sexes are alike. Ssp. kathangorensis is similar, but darker. 

This range map is from Birds of the World. The range on the map appears broader than the description. For the range description to match the map, ssp. kathangorensis would have to be all of the blue shading at the top and part of the blue shading on the bottom (the northeastern upper branch and perhaps down into Kenya. 

Village Weaver

There are eight subspecies of village weaver. I saw the ssp. bohndorffi which is found in southern Sudan, northern DRC, Uganda, western Kenya and northwestern Tanzania. I saw them in Uganda above the Mabamba Swamp and below Nkima Forest Lodge northwest of Entebbe and also in a colony just off the Naurus River in Kidepo Valley NP near the Apoka Airport. 

Birds of the World does not have an illustration of a male or female of ssp. bohndorri. But Wikipeda has a photo of both. This is of a male and below is of a female. 

Photo of a female ssp. bohndorffi from Wikipedia. 

It has a strong conical bill, dark reddish eyes and in the northern part of its range, the breeding male has a black head edged by chestnut (typically most distinct on the nape and chest). In the southern part of the range the amount of black and chestnut diminishes. Breeding males in the southernmost subspecies have only a black face and throat, with a yellow nape and crown. In all subspecies, the breeding male has a black bill, black and yellow upperparts and wings, and yellow underparts. Non-breeding males have a yellow head, an olive crown, gray upperparts and whitish underparts. The wings are yellow and black. Adult females have streaked olive upperparts, yellow and black wings and pale yellow underparts. 

This village Weaver female, as well as the photos that follow, were seen on the hill between Nkima Forest Lodge and the Mabamba Swamp. 

This is a male and adolescent. 

This photo and the following were seen in Kidepo Valley NP. 

Vieillot's Black Weaver

Near the entrance to the Mabamba Swamp (where wooden boats are launched into the water), southwest of Entebbe, Uganda, there is a tree bursting with round, hanging, grass nests and full of male dark black weavers with yellow eyes. Further from the water, in seemingly another world, on the hill below Nkima Forest Lodge, a completely different looking brown and yellow female bird was found, both Vieillot's black weavers. 

Territory is defended by the male. Males burst into song when females visit the colony. In a nest-advertisement display, males hang below the nest entrance, quivering wings, with tail raised away from the nest. 

Entrance to the nest from below. It is woven by the male from strips of palm leaves or grass. The hanging perch below the nest looks like a swing. Very often found close to people, like these. 

Illustration of male Vieillot's black weaver from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of female Vieillot's black weaver from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Squacco Heron

I was excited to see a squacco heron, a new heron for me, in the Mabamba Swamp off Lake Victoria southwest of Entebbe, Uganda. 

In breeding plumage it has a yellow-buff or straw colored crown, the feathers are elongated and it gets golden to cinnamon-buff plumes on the lower neck and back. The bill becomes bright blue. This is way short of what I've seen in photos. 

When it takes flight it begins to look very white with white wings, rump and tail. 

Squacco heron illustration in breeding plumage from Birds of the World. Note the dark blue bill, except the tip. 

Squacco heron illustration in non-breeding plumage from Birds of the World. 

Range of the squacco heron from Birds of the World. Purple is year-round, orange is breeding and light blue is wintering. 

Red-Billed Firefinch

As my guide, William, and I walked the hill between Nkima Forest Lodge and Mabamba Swamp, southwest of Entebbe, Uganda, we encountered some red-billed fire finches right off the dirt trail we were following. They were beautiful small red birds that flitted around a lot and were difficult to photograph. I took quite a few photos and only two are decent. 

Firefinches are found in the genus Lagonosticta and there are ten species, all found in Africa. Ssp. reberrima is known as the Uganda red-billed firefinch and is found in the DRC, Uganda, west Kenya to northeast Angola, northeast Zambia and north Malawi. 

Illustration of male firefinch, ssp. reberimma, from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of female red-billed firefinch from Birds of the World. 

They are about 3.9 inches in length. Their nests are parasitised by the village indigobird which I also saw on our trip.  

Range from Birds of the World. 

Yellow-Throated Longclaw

The yellow-throated longclaw reminded me very much of our western meadowlark. Particularly on the hill between Nkima Forest Lodge and the Mabamba Swamp southwest of Entebbe, Uganda, they were everywhere. One of the few species I saw so many of that I quit taking photos of them. I took a few photos in Murchison Falls NP and none in Kidepo Valley NP although I'm sure I saw some there. 

Like the western meadowlark, it has yellow underparts and a black bib on the upper chest. Longclaws are in the genus Macronyx which has eight species, all in Africa. 

Above the Mabamba Swamp.

In Murchison Falls NP.

Look carefully and note the long toes and long claws hanging well over the branch and almost down to the branch below it. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a female. The female is duller than the male, the necklace is less well-defined (narrower and lighter) and the underparts often have buff or olive-yellow wash. None of that shows up in the illustrations, at least to my eye. 

Range from Birds of the World.