The birds of the Ssese Islands, Lake Victoria, Uganda

The attached document (in MS Word) is a paper written in 2000 on the birds of the Ssese Islands in Uganda, following a visit to the islands in 1995 and a review of other available data. The document is published here for those who may have interest in furthering the analysis carried out.

The Ssese Islands lie in the north-west part of Lake Victoria. They comprise 84 islands of which Bugala is the largest. Bugala Island lies about 50 km WSW of Entebbe and about 3 km from the mainland at Bukakata. The island is about 50 km long and up to 5 km wide and holds the majority of the islands’ people. The economy is based on fishing, agriculture and forestry, with limited tourist facilities. The vegetation of the islands is principally a forest/grassland mosaic and a limited degree of cultivation. Forest cover is roughly 50%, much of it modified or secondary in character. It appears that there is a significant level of illicit timber removal from the forest.

In general, the conclusion of the study was that the forest birdlife on the islands was significantly less diverse than the adjacent mainland. Notable records include White-backed Night Heron Gorsachius leuconotus, an immature seen at night by torchlight, a Bat Hawk Macheiramphus alcinus seen displaying, one White-bellied Kingfisher Alcedo leucogaster netted, a Black-and-white Casqued Hornbill Bycanistes subcylindricus robbing nests of Vieillot’s Black Weaver Ploceus nigerrimus, breeding records for Orange Weaver and Slender-billed Weaver acting as host for Didric Cuckoo. The local variant of the Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone viridis is described.