Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat

Indian Courser

Despite being a primarily arid landscape, the Little Rann of Kutch is one of India’s prime birdwatching destinations. It is a fascinating saltmarsh landscape that is the only home for the Asiatic Wild Ass, or Khur, and has been declared as the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary. The extensive Rann of Kutch is an ancient seabed, now a saline desert dotted with grassy patches that provide excellent birding, especially in winter.

Target Species

  • Common Quail
  • Bar-headed Goose
  • Knob-billed Duck
  • Sykes’s Nightjar 
  • Macqueen’s Bustard
  • Sirkeer Malkoha 
  • Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
  • Demoiselle Crane
  • Common Crane
  • Greater Flamingo
  • Lesser Flamingo
  • Pied Avocet
  • Yellow-wattled Lapwing 
  • Sociable Lapwing
  • White-tailed Lapwing
  • Lesser Sand Plover
  • Eurasian Curlew
  • Black-tailed Godwit
  • Dunlin
  • Indian Courser 
  • Slender-billed Gull
  • Pallas’s Gull
  • White Stork
  • Black-necked Stork
  • Great White Pelican
  • Dalmatian Pelican
  • Black-winged Kite
  • 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 
  • Saker Falcon
  • Isabelline Shrike
  • Bay-backed Shrike
  • Greater Hoopoe-Lark
  • Rufous-tailed Lark 
  • Indian Bush Lark 
  • Sykes’s Lark 
  • Greater Short-toed Lark
  • Sand Lark
  • Booted Warbler
  • Sykes’s Warbler
  • Desert Whitethroat
  • Eastern Orphean Warbler
  • Asian Desert Warbler
  • Rosy Starling
  • Blue Rock Thrush
  • Isabelline Wheatear
  • Desert Wheatear
  • Variable Wheatear
  • Tawny Pipit
  • Long-billed Pipit
  •   Endemic
  •   Near Endemic

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive at Ahmedabad and transfer to Little Rann of Kutch

After arrival at Ahmedabad, a short drive will take you to the Little Rann of Kutch, where you will check in to Rann Riders or Royal Safari Camp. You will have the opportunity for a first exploration of this unique landscape with an afternoon jeep safari. As well as the herds of Asiatic Wild Ass, you should also see Nilgai and Chinkara and maybe Desert Fox, Jungle Cat and, at night, Pale and Long-eared Hedgehogs.

Days 2-3: Little Rann of Kutch

Over the two full days you will take multiple jeep safaris to explore the Rann, looking for birds such as MacQueen’s Bustard, Indian Courser, Long-legged Buzzard, Short-eared Owl, Greater Hoopoe-Lark and large flocks of Greater Short-toed and Bimaculated, the Desert form of Lesser Whitethroat (now ‘lumped’ again having been split just a few years ago), Asian Desert Warbler, and, with luck, a wintering flock of the critically endangered Sociable Lapwing. Apart from the open desert and its surrounding ‘bets’, you can also do wetland birding at the Bajana Creek and Nawa Talao lake. Here both Demoiselle and Common Cranes can be found in large numbers, with both Greater and Lesser Flamingos, and Great White and Dalmatian Pelicans. Other birds could include the mighty Black-necked Stork, large flocks of wildfowl and waders including Knob-billed Duck and White-tailed Lapwing, Graceful Prinia, Desert and Variable Wheatears, Rufous-tailed and Bay-backed Shrikes, and Grey-necked Bunting.

Day 4: Depart to Ahmedabad

After breakfast, check out and drive back 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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