A desert that birds can't ignore
The flyway: every autumn, birds leave Siberia, Central Asia and the high Himalaya and fly south along the Central Asian flyway, and a great many come down over the Thar and eastern Rajasthan.
Water and grass: that is what they look for, and Rajasthan has both in unexpected places, from a seasonal marsh near Agra and a salt lake west of Jaipur to a small grassland and long-protected village ponds.
Keoladeo's hollow: the wetland of Bharatpur sits in a natural hollow where two monsoon rivers spread out.
- Flyway
- Central Asian flyway
- Keoladeo
- 29 sq km; 350+ species recorded
- Sanctuary
- 1956
- Ramsar wetland
- 1981
- National park
- 1982
- UNESCO
- 1985
- The Ajan Bund: the Jat ruler Suraj Mal built it in the eighteenth century to hold the water back, and the marsh that formed became a royal duck-shooting preserve.
- Sixty years of guns: viceroys and maharajas competed there for the largest bag. Then the guns went quiet.
- Protected in stages: a bird sanctuary in 1956, a Ramsar wetland in 1981, a national park in 1982 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
- The mix: about a third is water and the rest woodland, scrub and grass, so ducks and geese crowd the marsh, storks and herons nest in the trees, and eagles, owls and warblers work the dry ground.
- Before breakfast: a pelican, a sarus crane and a spotted owlet, without walking more than a few kilometres.
- Four habitats west: flamingos at Sambhar Lake, raptors at Tal Chhapar, demoiselle cranes at Khichan near Phalodi and the great Indian bustard in the Desert National Park.
- Why birders return: four very different mornings, each with a fort or a palace to rest in at midday.
A morning in Keoladeo, hour by hour
- Transport
- Cycle rickshaw, bicycle or on foot
- Best light
- The first two hours
- Midday
- Rest at the hotel
- Evening
- The last two hours, for the roost
- Nearby
- Lohagarh; Deeg about 32 km
Before first light, at the gate
The pick-up: in the dark, with a flask of hot sweet tea and a packed breakfast.
- Your rickshaw guide: Keoladeo's cycle-rickshaw pullers are trained by the park, and many senior ones are superb naturalists with decades on these paths.
- What they know: which tree the owls roost in, where the pythons sun themselves in winter and the call of nearly every warbler.
- Booked ahead: we reserve an experienced one in advance and agree the hours at the start.
The first two hours, on the main road
Where to be: the main road along the wetland as the light comes up.
- Out of the mist: in December and January shapes appear one by one, from spoonbills sweeping their bills to rafts of ducks that call as the sun reaches them.
- Sarus cranes: the tallest flying birds in the world, standing like grey statues.
- Best of the day: the best light for photographs and the busiest hour for the birds.
Mid-morning, into the woods
On foot: we leave the rickshaw and walk the side tracks with a specialist bird guide.
- The smaller birds: flycatchers, babblers, shrikes, warblers and, if you are patient, an owl looking down from a hollow branch.
- The telescope: for distant water birds and raptors perched far out on dead trees.
- Breakfast by the water: usually interrupted at least once by something wonderful.
Midday, rest
Quiet hours: by late morning the birds go quiet, and so should you, with lunch, a swim and a sleep.
- Lohagarh: the mud fort that held off the British in 1805.
- Deeg: summer palaces and fountains about 32 kilometres away.
Late afternoon, the roost
Back for the last two hours: this time by bicycle if you enjoyed the morning.
- The roost: the light softens, the water birds settle and long lines of egrets and cormorants fly in.
- At closing: the jackals start to call. Most guests say this is when they understood why our grandfather came back every December for the rest of his life.
Where we arrange birding in Rajasthan
- Keoladeo
- Two to three nights; four for serious birders
- Sambhar
- About 70 to 80 km west of Jaipur
- Tal Chhapar
- About 7 sq km, Churu district
- Khichan cranes
- About September to March
- Gajner
- About 30 km west of Bikaner
Keoladeo, Bharatpur: the wetland
How long: two or three nights for most guests, four for serious birders.
- Winter: ducks of many kinds, bar-headed geese, pelicans, storks, spoonbills, ibises, darters and cormorants, hunted by greater spotted eagles, harriers and falcons.
- All year: sarus cranes, kingfishers, owls and bee-eaters.
- Getting there: an easy hour from Agra, with Fatehpur Sikri on the way.
Sambhar Lake: flamingos on the salt
Where: India's largest inland salt lake, about 70 to 80 kilometres west of Jaipur.
Flamingos: greater and lesser, coming in winter for the algae and tiny crustaceans in the brine. In a good year tens of thousands gather.
- At the margins: black-winged stilts, sandpipers and plovers.
- Our evening: the telescope set up on the long stone dam for the late afternoon, staying for sunset.
- Check first: numbers rise and fall with the monsoon, so we ask local birders before we take you out.
Tal Chhapar: the grassland raptors
The sanctuary: small and flat, about seven square kilometres in Churu district, famous for blackbuck and birds of prey.
Eagles: tawny, steppe and eastern imperial eagles hunt spiny-tailed lizards across the grass.
- Harriers: Montagu's, marsh, pallid and hen harriers come in to a communal roost at dusk.
- Larks: they rise in great flocks around you.
- Stay the night: the lodges are simple, but a night gives you both dawn and dusk, and the harrier roost is worth it.
Khichan: the cranes that a village feeds
When: from about September to March, thousands of demoiselle cranes fly in from Central Asia to this village near Phalodi.
- Every morning: villagers scatter grain on a walled feeding ground, and the cranes circle, land in waves and fill it with grey and black, calling softly.
- How to watch: arrive before sunrise, stand quietly at the edge and don't walk towards them.
- Read more: our journal tells the story of the demoiselle cranes of Khichan.
Jorbeer and Gajner, near Bikaner
Jorbeer: a carcass dump outside Bikaner, and an improbable gift to birders.
- Vultures: one of the best places in India to see them, including winter migrants, with steppe eagles around them. It needs a strong stomach.
- Gajner: the lake and woodland at the old royal hunting lodge, about 30 kilometres west, a gentler place for waterbirds and antelope.
The Desert National Park: the bustard country
Where: the grasslands south-west of Jaisalmer.
- The godawan: the great Indian bustard, critically endangered, now surviving mainly here. Sightings are never guaranteed.
- A dawn at Sudasari: the enclosure still brings sandgrouse, larks, coursers, eagles and falcons, and in winter the houbara bustard.
- How we go: with licensed local naturalists, and we arrange the permits.
The Bishnoi country around Jodhpur
Protected by faith: south of Jodhpur, the Bishnoi community has protected trees and animals since the fifteenth century, and the farmland shows it.
- At dawn: grey francolins, larks, Indian rollers, bee-eaters and, in winter, harriers quartering low over the stubble.
- Beside the houses: blackbuck graze, and village ponds draw egrets, storks and ducks.
- Gentle birding: from a jeep or on foot, paired with a morning with a Bishnoi family. Our page on the Bishnoi villages explains how we visit.
Jawai, Ranthambore and the lakes of Mewar
Jawai: guests come for leopards at Jawai and leave talking about the bar-headed geese and cranes on the reservoir.
Ranthambore: Ranthambore has superb forest birds alongside its tigers.
When the birds are here
- Heronry
- August to October
- Peak migrants
- November to February
- Keoladeo peak
- December and January
- Farewell
- March
- Not advised
- April to July
August to October, the heronry
The breeding colony: after the rains Keoladeo's resident water birds nest in the acacias in their thousands.
Who nests: painted storks, open-billed storks, spoonbills, cormorants, darters, herons, egrets and ibises.
- The spectacle: the noise, the smell and the constant traffic of parents bringing fish make it one of the great wildlife sights of India.
- Warm and humid: we keep outings to early morning and late afternoon.
- Tal Chhapar: the harrier passage begins in late September.
November to February, the migrants
The heart of the season: ducks, geese, cranes, pelicans and waders at every wetland, with the raptors following them.
- Khichan: the cranes are in their thousands.
- Peak months: December and January at Keoladeo and usually at Sambhar, with misty dawns that photographers love.
- Pack warm: mornings can be close to freezing on the grassland and salt flats, so bring a down jacket, a hat and gloves.
March, the farewell
Still good: especially early in the month.
- The change: migrants begin to leave, residents start to sing and display, and the light is clear.
- Longer rests: the heat builds quickly by midday.
April to July, the quiet months
Fierce heat: most wetlands shrink, and we don't recommend these months for most guests.
- Specialists: they still come for particular birds, and the great Indian bustard's breeding season is linked to the rains.
- Our alternative: in April, May or June we would rather send you to the forests of Ranthambore at dawn, before its monsoon closure.
- The best of the year: read Rajasthan in January.
How we arrange a birding journey
Two guides at Keoladeo: the park's own rickshaw guides, who know it as only someone with thirty winters there can, and a specialist bird guide.
The specialist: brings a telescope, a field guide and the patience to help you tell a greater spotted eagle from an Indian spotted eagle at a distance.
Local naturalists: at Tal Chhapar, Khichan and the Desert National Park, from the surrounding villages. They know where the birds were yesterday, and their income is part of why these places are protected.
- Keoladeo guides
- Rickshaw guide plus specialist
- Elsewhere
- Local village naturalists
- In the car
- Tea, breakfast, spare binoculars, a beanbag
- Full route
- Eleven nights
- Prices
- Quoted after one conversation
- Planned around light: every outing at dawn or in the last two hours of the day, with a long rest between at a palace or heritage hotel.
- In the car: hot tea, a packed breakfast, spare binoculars and a beanbag for long lenses.
- Checked and rechecked: water levels and bird reports, with local birders before you book and again as you travel.
- Flexible: we'll change the order of the route if the flamingos are closer one evening or the cranes have shifted fields.
- Beginners welcome: some guests want two hundred species, others want tea by the water watching storks feed their chicks. Both are right.
- Your list: if you keep an eBird list or a notebook, your guide helps fill it in each evening over a drink, our favourite hour of any birding day.
- Complete routes: our birding journey links Keoladeo, Sambhar, Tal Chhapar, Bikaner and Khichan in eleven nights, and big cats and birds adds Ranthambore and Jawai.
- No published prices: every journey is different. After one conversation we send a day-by-day plan and a quote, so plan your journey whenever you are ready.
Six birds to know before you come
The sarus crane
How to know it: grey, red-headed and as tall as a man.
- Pairs for life: and pairs dance with wings spread and heads thrown back.
- A symbol: of faithful love in villages across north India, and farmers rarely harm it.
- Where: Keoladeo has resident pairs all year.
The painted stork
- How to know it: a big white stork with a yellow bill, a bare orange face and wings washed with pink, as if brushed with watercolour.
- Where: it nests in colonies at Keoladeo after the monsoon, and a tree full of their chicks is unforgettable.
The bar-headed goose
How to know it: pale grey, with two black bars across the back of its white head.
- A record flier: it breeds in Central Asia and crosses the Himalaya on migration, flying higher than almost any other bird.
- Where: flocks graze at Keoladeo, Tal Chhapar and on the shores at Jawai.
The demoiselle crane
How to know it: the smallest of the cranes, elegant and soft-voiced, with a black neck and white plumes behind the eye.
- Kurja: its local name. In Rajasthani folk songs it is a messenger carrying word between separated lovers.
- Where: Khichan, in its thousands.
The great Indian bustard
The godawan: Rajasthan's state bird and one of the heaviest flying birds in the world.
- How few: fewer than 150 are estimated to survive, most in and around the Desert National Park.
- A privilege, never a promise: read our article on the great Indian bustard.
The Siberian crane, the one that is gone
How it looked: white with a red face. It once wintered at Keoladeo in its dozens.
- The decline: numbers fell steeply from the late 1960s, and the last were seen in the winter of 2001 to 2002.
- Why we tell it: our guides tell its story where the cranes used to stand, because it explains why the birds that remain need visitors who care.
Who will love it, and who may not
Birders and photographers
- Keen birders: habitats change quickly from east to west.
- Photographers: soft winter light, mist on the water and birds used to people on the paths.
Couples where only one birds
- Something else at every stop: Lohagarh and Deeg at Bharatpur, Amber Fort and the bazaars near Sambhar, Junagarh in Bikaner and Mehrangarh in Jodhpur.
- A second car: we can run one with a guide, so one of you is with the eagles while the other is in a fort or a spa.
Families
Keoladeo is ideal: children love the rickshaws and bicycles, the size of the pelicans and the sheer number of animals, and the park is flat, shady and safe.
- Our advice: binoculars and a picture guide for each child, and outings of three hours.
- More ideas: our guide to travelling with children.
Who may not love it
Early and cold: birding means early starts, cold mornings and long stretches of watching water.
- If big cats are what you want: choose our Palaces and Tigers journey and enjoy the birds that come with it.
- April to July: the birds will mostly have left before you.
Where to stay on a birding journey
Bharatpur
Laxmi Vilas Palace: a royal family house on the edge of town, now a heritage hotel, about fifteen minutes from the park gate. Ask for the heritage wing.
- At the gate: several lodges stand right by the entrance for the earliest starts.
- From Agra: some guests stay at The Oberoi Amarvilas and drive over, but you lose the evening light and the second dawn.
Jaipur, for Sambhar
- Rambagh Palace: Rambagh Palace has peacocks on its lawns and gardens full of resident birds, a lovely rest between Bharatpur and the salt lake.
- Samode Haveli: Samode Haveli inside the walled city suits guests who want the old city on their doorstep.
Churu and Bikaner, for the grassland
- Churu: Malji ka Kamra, a merchant's mansion of the 1920s, is the nearest comfortable base for Tal Chhapar.
- Bikaner: Laxmi Niwas Palace and Narendra Bhawan give palace comfort for the days around Jorbeer and Gajner.
Jaisalmer and Jawai
- For the Desert National Park: Suryagarh on the Sam road is a calm base for pre-dawn departures.
- At Jawai: SUJAN JAWAI pairs leopards with the birds of the reservoir and the granite hills.
How we bird, and what we ask of you
No playback, no bait: we never use recordings near nests or roosts, and never bait birds for a photograph.
Stay on the paths: permitted paths and tracks only, and we never ask a driver to chase blackbuck or flush a harrier from its roost.
- Playback
- Never near nests or roosts
- Distance
- Back off if birds walk away
- Clothing
- Muted colours, soft soles
- Tipping
- Guides directly and generously
- Keep back: from flamingos and cranes. If they start walking away from you, you are too close.
- Blend in: wear muted colours and soft-soled shoes, and keep your voice low.
- No feeding: never throw food to birds or animals, and take every scrap of plastic away with you.
- Tip directly: your rickshaw guide and local naturalist, generously. Their knowledge is the park's greatest treasure.
- Current rules: check rules and fees on arrival. They change, and we follow them.
- Before you go: read our ethical animal encounters guide and our page on travelling responsibly.