BIRD
SANCTUARIES
Birds
of Tal Chhapar
The Tal Chhapar Sanctuary in Churu district famous for its
black-buck, is also rich in avifauna.
Situated in North-Western Rajasthan, on the way of migratory
passage of many birds it is a flat saline depression. The
most fascinating sight is that of the migrating harriers.
During the month of September the birds pass this place in
different flocks of male, female and immature. The Montagur's
and marsh harriers are found in abundance while the pale and
hen harriers are comparatively fewer.
Blue jay
 In
winter you can see the imperial eagle, the tawny eagle, short-toed
eagle, sparrow hawk in abundance. They generally can be spotted
sitting on the sand, mud or a bush looking for gerbil and
large insects. The passing by birds stop over here and feed
themselves on the insects. During September and October Kashmir
rollers can be seen while skylark, crested lark, ring dove,
brown dove and blue joy are found here throughout the year.
This place is frequented by black ibis. It is also a breeding
place of Blue-checked bee-eaters and green bee-eaters. The
first week of September is marked wit the arrival of demoiselle
cranes, who stay here till March.
Birds of Desert National Park
Desert National Park with its natural landscape and
typical vegetation has its typical flora and fauna. It is
spread over an area of 3100 sq. kms, laying partly in Jaisalmer
and partly in Barmer districts.
300 species of birds were listed here by the surveys conducted
by Hugh Whistler in (1938). The most common birds here are
the Raptorial birds. Many eagles, harriers, falcons, buzzards,
kestrel and vultures can be seen here, amongst which the most
common are Short-toed eagles, tawny eagles, spotted eagles,
lager falcons and kestrels. At the vicinity of small ponds
and lakes you can generally spot the sandgrouse.
The elegant great Indian bustard can also be spotted here
in fair numbers. In different seasons it migrates locally.
In the scrub vegetated areas and around the villages you can
spot the grey partridges and quails. The migratory birds take
refugee in this place. As soon as the rains are over the Lark,
flycatcher, warbler, starling and sandgrouse arrive from European
countries, the Himalayan region and Tibet.
Jaisamand Lake
 The
Jaisamand Lake lies in the Jaismand Wildlife Sanctuary which
is fifty kms. south of Udaipur. Spread over an area of 90
sq. kms, it is the second largest artificial lake in Asia.
The lake was made by blocking a narrow gap in the Aravali
hills makes the bigger hills inside it look like islands away
from human habitation, these shallow waters allow great freedom
to varieties of water birds.
Unlike Keoladeo this lake is full throughout the years which
allows the resident water birds to start their breeding activities
in the last week of June. This is a special feature of the
birds of this lake. The birds mostly make their nests in the
vegetation around the lake. You can notice these breeding
birds only while moving around in the lake by boat.
Open-bill storks
Darter, open-bill stork, pond heron, little cormorant, Indian
shag, egret, a few grey and purple heron and night heron etc
are the main breeding birds of Jaisamand lake. The breeding
of the resident birds is soon followed one after the other
by migrant birds. Pastor and starling all amongst the earliest
to arrive among the other visitors are ducks like pintail,
teal, mallard, shoveler, pochard, gadwall and even some few
geese. The lake is also inhabited by ducks like comb duck
or nukhta duck. The sanctuary is also visited by larger migrants
like rosy and Dalmatian pelicans.
In and around the sanctuary you will also shot a number of
ground birds like the peafowl, spur fowl, grey. Prey birds
such as eagles, buzzards, hawks, falcons and kestrels also
are attracted to this sanctuary.
Birds in Abu
 Mount
Abu .The highest point in the Aravalis, the forest here differs
from range. The forest has an abundance of mango, karonda
and date trees. The vegetation provides a cover to the animals
which cannot be spotted easily. The sweet voice of the green
barrbet fills the valley. The shrill tone of brain fever bird
signals the arrival of monsoon.
Mount Abu is the home of grey jungle fowl. In Rajasthan, this
species is confined to the southern part of the state. Oriole,
minivet, woodpecker, flycatcher, drongo, myna, ioro, bulbul
and warbler are also commonly found in these forests.
Birds of Sorsan
Situated in the newly constituted districts of Baran, 45 kms
east of Kota City in the southern Rajasthan. Sorsan grassland
is famous for its birds. The grassland is surrounded by right
bank main canal of the Chambal and the Parvan rivers.
White-breasted kingfisher
This grasslands spreads over an area of 35 sq. kms. It is
a treeless areas of deciduous bushes of jhar ber growing on
shallow soil in patches.
The grassland becomes an ideal place for insects during monsoons
which in turn becomes a paradise for resident and migratory
bird. The avifauna of Sorsan is enriched by the birds like
lark, shrike, bulbul, drongo, myna, oriole, flycatcher, babbler,
chat, quail, partridge, robin, weaver bird and munia. The
birds flock to this place, abundant in food supply and the
beautiful sunshine. The October sees the arrival of migratory
lark, warbles, flycatches starling and rosy pastors which
stay still March. While the Kashmir rollers can be seen only
in October. However the major attraction of Sorsan is the
Godawan- the great Indian bustard. The elegant bird which
weights 8-14 kgs, stands 16" high. This tall, heavy birds
walks with confidence and grace in the grassland. It has been
residing in the Barda area of the grassland as well as in
the Jawar fields of the cultivated area.
Water birds can also be spotted in the canal, in river Parvan
and in the lakes of Sorsan and Manipur village The lakes are
surrounded by saras crane and cattle egret. Pintail, common
teal, ruddy shelduck, gadwall, shoveler, common pochard, barheaded
goose, greylag goose etc are amongst the geese and ducks that
visit these water bodies.
How to get there
Air: Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur
lie on the Indian Airlines route that links Delhi to Bombay.
Rail: Most of Rajasthan is accessible
by a network of rail services. An excellent connection to
Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, from Delhi is the Pink City
Express (5 hour run) which is a vestibuled, chair-seating
rail service. Other places too are linked by passenger and
express trains. Since rail journeys are usually long because
of the distances involved, it is advisable to carry light
snacks and water bottles as most stations enroute do not serve
much by way of food.
Rajasthan State Roadways coaches link most tourist places
and business centres in and around the state. Chauffeur-driven
air-conditioned cars can be hired through the State Tourist
Offices and other approved operators.
Some important road distances from Jaipur are Agra 240 kms,
Delhi 261 kms, Jodhpur 332 kms, Ajmer 131 kms, Nathdwara 355
kms, Alwar 142 kms, Bikaner 321 kms, Jaisalmer 654 kms and
Bharatpur 176 kms.
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