Bird Watching in Rajasthan

Birding in Rajasthan

Sonkhaliya, Udaipur & Jaisamand, Kumbhalgarh, Jodhpur, Thar Desert & Jaipur

10 nights & 11 days
Best season: October to March

Day 01: Delhi-Ajmer (room only)

Drive from Delhi to Ajmer early in the morning. Arrive Ajmer in the afternoon. Rest of the day birding around Pushkar. Overnight stay in Hotel Master Paradise.

Day 02: Ajmer-Udaipur (room only)

One can expect to find Indian bustard, Indian courser, grey and painted francolin, rufous-fronted prinia, saras and demoiselle cranes etc. Stoliczka’s bushchat and white-naped tit are also possible here. The raptors are fairly large in number. Full day birding in Sonkhaliya closed area. Drive to Udaipur at 1600 hours. Arrive Udaipur at 2100 hours. Overnight stay in Hotel Jagat Retreat.

Day 03: Udaipur (room only)

Morning excursion to Jaisamand for birding. One can look for white-naped tit, common woodshrike, plum-headed and rose-ringed parakeet, common iora and other scrubland birds. One can get two hours for sightseeing in the evening. Overnight stay in Hotel Jagat Retreat.

Note: another day (optional) can be spent at Udaipur for sightseeing or a layover day.

Day 04: Udaipur-Kumbhalgarh (room only)

Drive in the morning to Kumbhalgarh (90 km / 2½ hours). Rest of the day birding with a guide in and around the fort looking for green avadavat, Indian pitta, common rosefinch, crested bunting, short-toed eagle, jungle bush quail, thick billed flowerpecker etc. Overnight stay in Hotel Aodhi or similar.

Day 05: Kumbhalgarh-Jodhpur (room only)

After morning birding, drive to Jodhpur stopping en route for birding. Overnight stay in Hotel Karni Bhawan or similar.

Day 06: Jodhpur-Kheechan-Jaisalmer (room only)

Drive to Jaisalmer stopping en route at Kheechan to see large congregation of demoiselle cranes and other species. Arrive Jaisalmer in the evening. The drive is through the dry desert scrub and very productive for raptors. Overnight stay in Hotel Nachna Haveli or similar.

Day 07: Jaisalmer (room only)

Morning birding at Gadisar Lake which is very productive for waterbirds. Permit application to visit Desert National Park requires appearance in person at the office of District Magistrate. This morning till lunch will be a non-productive one. Rest of the day birding in and around Jaisalmer. One can find Isabelline, variable and desert wheaters, common kestrel, shikra, chestnut-bellied sandgrouse etc. Overnight stay in Hotel Nachna Haveli or similar.

Day 08: Jaisalmer (room only)

Full day excursion to Khuri village for birding. One can look for common raven, black crowned sparrow lark, desert and orphean warblers, house bunting etc. Overnight stay in the hotel at Jaisalmer. Today your permits would have got processed for the visit to Desert National Park.

Day 09: Desert National Park (Dinner)

Full day excursion to Desert National Park to look for Great Indian Bustard, Stoliczka’s bushchat, cream-colored courser, greater hoopoe lark, eagles such as lesser spotted, bonelli’s, short toed, Imperial etc. are found here, plain leaf warbler and trumpeter finch can be found here etc. Overnight stay in a desert camp in the sand dunes of Sam.

Day 10: Jaisalmer-Jaipur (Breakfast)

Morning birding in Desert National Park. Return to Jaisalmer at noon. Room for wash and change. Connect overnight air-conditioned train to Jaipur in at 1530 hr. Overnight in air-conditioned sleeper class train.

Day 11: Jaipur (room only)