Mount Elgon National Park forms part of the western Kenya birdwatching circuit, which comprises destinations such as Kakamega Forest, Saiwa National Park, Busia Grasslands, Lake Victoria, Kongelai Escarpment, and Cherangani Hills
Mount Elgon has plenty of birdwatching opportunities to see beautiful and exciting bird species found in the western region of Kenya
Mount Elgon National Park comprises montane forest, wooded grassland, bamboo, and alpine moorland on the eastern slopes of Mount Elgon, Kenya’s second-highest mountain. Mount Elgon lies 140 kilometers northeast of Lake Victoria and is bisected by the Kenya/Uganda border. It is an ancient, eroded volcano with a huge caldera and, on its summit, the spectacular flat-topped basalt column known as Koitobos. Another unique feature of Mount Elgon is the ‘lava tube’ caves, some over 60 m wide and frequented by elephants at night (and other animals) digging for salts. The mountain soils are red laterite, and rainfall is 1,200 mm on the mid-slopes. The vegetation is zoned by altitude, with wet montane forest dominated by Olea and Aningeria grading into Olea– Podocarpus forest, a zone of mixed Podocarpus and bamboo, and the Hagenia abyss zone with giant heath. Afro-alpine moorlands occupy the highest parts of the mountain, with tussock grasses such as Festuca bogs of Carex, giant groundsels, and giant lobelias. Open wooded grassland with Erythrina and Combretum covers part of the lower, drier north-eastern slopes. Mount Elgon National Park (16,900 ha, gazetted in 1968) covers a narrow transect up the north-eastern slopes of the mountain, from lower montane forest to the caldera edge. The remaining forest and moorland (73,000 hectares) is part of Mount Elgon Forest Reserve. The north-eastern wooded grassland is unprotected. The Ugandan side of the mountain, above 2,000 meters, is protected within Uganda’s Mount Elgon National Park. Mount Elgon is an important water catchment for the Nzoia River, which flows into Lake Victoria, and for the Turkwel River, which flows into Lake Turkana
Birding in Mount Elgon is done while walking in some places, with an armed ranger, around Chorlim Gate, inside the compound of the Bandas
Birdwatching tour in Mount Elgon takes place at a relaxed and comfortable walking pace, which helps to learn various aspects of bird identification,
Mount Elgon National Park is home to 305 species of birds most of which are only found; Jackson’s and Moorland Francolins, endemic to Kenya, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Black-collared Apalis, and Streaky-headed Seedeater
