Northwest India Birding: Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat
Of India's many landscapes, the arid northwest is perhaps the most surprising. In places seemingly inhospitable, this region is home to a great diversity of species that includes numerous regional endemics, specialties of the desert environment and a rich variety of the subcontinent's more widespread birds.
More Details About this Trip:
Our 14-day birding tour provides comprehensive coverage of this region, traversing the western edge of the desert state of Rajasthan, and northern Gujarat to the south. Targets includes: Yellow-eyed Dove, Great Indian Bustard, Demoiselle Cranes Green Avadavat and Leopard, Asiatic Wild Ass, Sociable Lapwing, Crab Plover and many more.
This itinerary provides an in-depth exploration of this unique arid environment, amid a landscape dotted with fortresses and palaces that are a testament to a bygone era. A host of sought after desert specialties are accompanied throughout by more widespread residents and winter migrants, as well as a good diversity of mammals.
Pricing: $4,490 US Dollars or £3,590 GBP for 16 Days and 15 Nights.
Extensions available.
Group Size: Most tours are viable at 7 or 8 participants
Upcoming Dates:
January 22 to February 6, 2024
Birds
Great Indian Bustard, MacQueen’s Bustard, Indian Courser, Cream-coloured Courser, Desert Wheatear, Variable Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, Red-tailed Wheatear, Asian Desert Warbler, Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Brook’s Leaf-warbler, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Desert Whitethroat, Grey Hypocolius, White-naped Tit, Marshall’s Iora, Indian Spotted Creeper, Yellow-eyed Pigeon, Sirkeer Malkoha, White-bellied Minivet, Crested Bunting, Striolated Bunting, Trumpeter Finch, Green Avadavat, Sind Sparrow, Rufous-vented Grass-babbler, Jerdon’s Babbler, White-browed (Stoliczka’s) Bushchat, Bimaculated Lark, Desert Lark, Sand Lark, Greater Hoopoe Lark, Painted Sandgrouse, Rock Bush-quail, Barred Buttonquail, Sociable Plover, White-tailed Lapwing, Crab Plover, Demoiselle Crane, Common Crane, Sarus Crane, Lesser Flamingo, Greater Flamingo, Great White Pelican, Spot-billed Pelican, Dalmatian Pelican, Black-necked Stork, Bar-headed Goose, Laggar Falcon, Red-necked Falcon, Montagu’s Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Eastern Imperial Eagle, up to 5 species of Vulture, Indian Eagle-owl, Pallid Scops-owl, Sykes’s Nightjar
Mammals
Leopard, Jungle Cat, Desert Cat, Desert Fox, Asiatic Wild Ass, Blackbuck, Nilgai, Indian Wolf, Striped Hyaena, Indian Desert Jird
Habitats and
Special Sites
Vast man-made and seasonal wetlands, marshes, tropical savannah grasslands, acacia scrub, scrub-jungle, semi-desert, the outer fringes of the Thar Desert, saline flats, coastal dunes, mudflats and beaches
Other Attractions
Fascinating desert environment, scenic grasslands and wooded hills, look for Great Indian Bustard – among the world’s most endangered birds, impressive numbers of flamingos, cranes, pelicans and storks in vast seasonal wetlands, large congregations of Demoiselle Cranes at feeding stations in Khichan village, a glimpse of India’s silk-route splendour in the desert citadel of Jaisalmer, comfortable accommodation and excellent north Indian cuisine
