Jamnagar, Gujarat

Crab Plover

The mix of marine and freshwater habitats around Jamnagar in Gujarat are a great destination for birding. In autumn, winter and spring, the numbers of resident birds are supplemented by many thousands of migratory birds. The Marine National Park, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Kutch, protects large numbers of passage and wintering gulls, terns and waders, and is the best site in India for the unique Crab Plover. The Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary on the Ruparen River is one of the prime sites here, with a combination of saline and freshwater lagoons supporting many thousands of wintering birds, including Common Cranes, Black-necked Stork, Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Great White and Dalmatian Pelicans, waders including Great Thick-knee, White-tailed Lapwing, Broad-billed and Terek Sandpipers, and Indian Skimmer.

Target Species

  • Common Quail
  • Knob-billed Duck
  • Mallard
  • Sykes’s Nightjar 
  • Savanna Nightjar
  • Great Indian Bustard 
  • Macqueen’s Bustard
  • Sirkeer Malkoha 
  • Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
  • Spotted Sandgrouse
  • Painted Sandgrouse 
  • Sarus Crane
  • Demoiselle Crane
  • Common Crane
  • Great Crested Grebe
  • Black-necked Grebe
  • Greater Flamingo
  • Lesser Flamingo
  • Great Stone-curlew
  • Pied Avocet
  • Sociable Lapwing
  • White-tailed Lapwing
  • Lesser Sand Plover
  • Greater Sand Plover
  • Eurasian Whimbrel
  • Eurasian Curlew
  • Bar-tailed Godwit
  • Black-tailed Godwit
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Broad-billed Sandpiper
  • Curlew Sandpiper
  • Sanderling
  • Dunlin
  • Terek Sandpiper
  • Marsh Sandpiper
  • Crab-plover
  • Cream-colored Courser
  • Indian Courser 
  • Indian Skimmer
  • Slender-billed Gull
  • Pallas’s Gull
  • Lesser Black-backed Gull
  • Caspian Tern
  • Black-necked Stork
  • Great White Pelican
  • Dalmatian Pelican
  • White-rumped Vulture
  • Griffon Vulture
  • Short-toed Snake Eagle
  • Greater Spotted Eagle
  • Tawny Eagle
  • Steppe Eagle
  • Eastern Imperial Eagle
  • Pallid Harrier
  • Montagu’s Harrier
  • White-eyed Buzzard
  • Long-legged Buzzard
  • Pallid Scops Owl
  • Indian Eagle-Owl 
  • Short-eared Owl
  • European Roller
  • Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
  • Red-necked Falcon
  • Merlin
  • Eurasian Hobby
  • Laggar Falcon 
  • Red-backed Shrike
  • Isabelline Shrike
  • Red-tailed Shrike
  • Bay-backed Shrike
  • Rufous-tailed Lark 
  • Indian Bush Lark 
  • Bimaculated Lark
  • Sand Lark
  • Booted Warbler
  • Sykes’s Warbler
  • Desert Whitethroat
  • Eastern Orphean Warbler
  • Asian Desert Warbler
  • Common Whitethroat
  • Rosy Starling
  • Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin
  • Spotted Flycatcher
  • Blue Rock Thrush
  • White-browed Bush Chat 
  • Isabelline Wheatear
  • Desert Wheatear
  • Variable Wheatear
  • Red-tailed Wheatear
  • Tawny Pipit
  • Long-billed Pipit
  • Grey-necked Bunting
  • Striolated Bunting
  • Black-headed Bunting
  • Red-headed Bunting
  •   Near Endemic

Itinerary

Day 1: Ahmedabad to Jamnagar

Arrive at Ahmedabad airport early morning and you will be met and transferred to Jamnagar (c6 hours) in time for some evening birding at Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary. Stay at the birder-friendly Hotel President.

Days 2-3: Jamnagar

Two full days in the Jamnagar area will allow us to explore a few different sites. Narara Bet and Pirotan Islands support huge numbers of birds, although permits are not always available for these protected areas inside the National Park, particularly the latter which is only accessible by boat. Regardless, there is plenty to be seen in more accessible areas. Even Lakhota Lake in the heart of the city attracts large numbers of gulls with the chance of something unusual. We will see many species overall, potentially including Great Crested Grebe, Western Reef Egret, Pallas’s Gull, Caspian Tern, Greater Spotted Eagle, Isabelline Shrike, Sand Lark and Rosy Starlings.

Day 4: Depart Jamnagar

After breakfast, depart for the drive to Ahmedabad.

Checklist

For all our bookings we provide the most accurate and useful printable checklists available, specific to the actual areas you are likely to visit. In the meantime, use our interactive state checklists, or view the species bar chart for this area on eBird:

eBird India logo

Important information

Asian Adventures logo

As with all Bubo Birding tours, your booking is handled by Asian Adventures.

  • We may change the itinerary described due to various reasons such as latest birding information, availability of accommodation, state of the roads, and other unexpected factors that, this being India, do pop up from time to time!
  • We would be happy to make any additional travel bookings, e.g. domestic flights, car and driver, that you require.
  • The final price and itinerary will be confirmed before booking and depending on your expected arrival and departure plans.

See Asian Adventures for full tour details, including accommodation, meal plans, what's included, other exclusions, prices for different group sizes, single room supplements, cancellation policy, and booking process.

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