Moustached Grass-Warbler

In Kidepo Valley NP in northern Uganda I got a partial photo of a moustached grass-warbler. There are five subspecies and I saw ssp. amauroura which is apparently found in all of Uganda, South Sudan, southwestern Ethiopia south to eastern DRC, western and central Tanzania and northern and central Zambia. Birds of the World notes 6,826 observations and 968 photos, which is pretty low. The nominate ssps is olive-brown above; tinged with rufous on the forehead, rump and uppertail coverts; white lores and face to chin; narrow black line below the eye; ear coverts streaked olive brown and buffy brown; black malar stripe; and so one. Ssps amauroura is slightly darker brown, less olive above than the nominate, the tail is blacker, and the ear-coverts have white shaft streaks. 

Illustration of the nominate ssp from Birds of the World.

Range map from Birds of the World.

Rock Pratincole

The rock pratincole is an African wading bird which I saw at Murchison Falls in Uganda. I first saw it while below the falls on a boat that had come up from Paraa. One was on a rock, right next to the water. Later that day we went to the top of the falls and our guide, William, pointed them out on the bank where the river was rushing rapidly down to the falls. 

Near the bottom of Murchison Falls.

Near the top of Murchison Falls. Note how frothy the water is. Birds of the World has a photo taken in about the same place. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

They have dark gray or brown plumage with a white line beginning beneath the eye extending to the back of the neck like a collar. The bill is black with a red base and the legs and eyes are coral red. The wings are long and dark with a white patch on the underwing. The tail is forked and they usually have a white belly. There are two subspecies. I saw the "white naped" nominate ssp. nuchalis. There is a "rufous naped" ssp. liberia which has a rufous hindcollar. 

They live in flocks of about 26 pairs on the rocks feeding upon insects in the morning and evening and wading in the water during the heat of the day. Its diet is mostly flies, moths, ants, beetles, grasshoppers and cicadas. 

Range map from Birds of the World.

Vinaceous Dove

The vinaceous dove: has a pale brown back, wings and tail; the head and underparts are pinkish-gray; it has a black hind-neck patch edged with white; the legs are red; and there is white in the tail. I saw them in Uganda in Murchison Falls NP and Kidepo Valley NP. 

In Murchison Falls NP.

In Kidepo Valley NP.

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range map from Birds of the World. 

Common Bulbul

Bulbuls are members of the family Pycnonotidae and includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves and bristlebills. I've previously posted on: (1) the African red-eyed bulbul (June 27, 2018) which I saw in Etosha NP in Namibia; (2) the red-vented bulbul (February 17, 2025) which I saw in Kaziranga NP and in Jaipur, India; (3) the red-whiskered bulbul (December 3, 2022) which I saw at the Los Angeles County Arboretum); and (4) the yellow-vented bulbul (March 16, 2025) which I saw at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. On our recent trip to Uganda in July 2025 I saw multiple common bulbuls in virtually every area we visited. The common bulbul is also known as the black-eyed bulbul, black-capped bulbul and common garden bulbul. 

At Nkima Forest Lodge northwest of Entebbe, Uganda.

In Murchison Falls NP. 

In Kidepo Valley NP. 

This, my best photo, was taken outside our tent at the Savannah Lodge just outside Kidepo Valley NP. I was sitting in a chair on the patio and it was on a cactus nearby.

Illustration of ssp. tricolor from Birds of the World. 

Males and females are similar in plumage, but the male is larger. It has a dark brown head; brown upperparts; dull gray underparts; black bill, legs and feet; dark brown eye with dark eyering; and four of the ten subspecies have yellow undertail coverts, including ssp. tricolor which I saw. 

Range map from Birds of the World. 

Goliath Heron

One of the birds I really wanted to see in Uganda was a Goliath heron. I saw exactly one. I was on a boat ride along the White Nile between Paraa and Murchison Falls, shortly after we started, near the Paraa Lodge on the north side of the river. 

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

The Goliath heron is the world's largest heron. It reaches a height between 3 feet 11 inches and 5 feet. Males and females look similar with an overall plumage of slate gray and chestnut. The head, face, back and sides of the neck are chestnut. The chin, throat, foreneck and upper breast are white with black streaks across the foreneck and upper breast. The lower breast and belly are buff with black streaks. The back and upper wings are slate-gray with a chestnut shoulder patch at the bend of the wings when they are closed. The upper mandible is black and the lores and orbital areas are yellow with a greenish tinge. The eyes are yellow and the legs and feet are black. The heron that looks most like it, the purple heron, is much smaller. 

Range from Birds of the World.

Northern Gray-Headed Sparrow

The northern gray-headed sparrow has a pale gray head with a white moustache stripe, pale brown upperparts, whitish underparts and chestnut wings with a small white shoulder patch. Males and females are similar. There are three subspecies which differ in plumage tone, particularly as to the darkness of the head. It appears that I was seeing the ssp. ugandae. Ugandae is darker than the nominate ssp., with a gray-brown head, a well-defined white bib, and a whiter belly. 

Near Nkima Forest Lodge northwest of Entebbe, Uganda. This does have a darker head than the illustration below. 

This, and the next two photos, were taken in Kidepo Valley NP in northern Uganda. These photos were taken on the grass outside the Apoka Ranger Station.  

Illustration from Birds of the World. 

Range map from Birds of the World.

Black-Crowned Tchagra

The black-crowned tchagra has a black crown and eye stripes separated by a white supercilium. The underparts are pale gray and the upperparts are pale brown. the folded wings are chestnut and the tail is black with a white tip. The bill is black. I saw one in Murchison Falls NP in Uganda. It mainly eats insects, including grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, caterpillars, wasps, cicadas, termites, worms, spiders, scorpions, snails, frogs, small lizards and snakes and small fruits. 

There are 10 subspecies and I saw ssp. armenus which is found from south Cameroon east to northern DRC, South Sudan and Uganda, south and west to Angola, east to Kenya (except the coast), Tanzania (except the east lowlands), Malawi, northwest Mozambique and northern Zimbabwe. 

Illustration of ssp. senegalus from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World.