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India - Western: Desert Specials

© Demoiselle cranes by Adam Riley
India - Western: Desert Specials 2026

16 Feb 2026 - 28 Feb 2026 (13 days)

USD4,695 - Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Dušan Brinkhuizen

Tour price (Per person): USD4,695 * GBP3,635 * EUR4,352 * AUD7,494

Single Supplement: USD720 * GBP558 * EUR667 * AUD1,149

Flight costs: USD280 * GBP217 * EUR260 * AUD447

India - Western: Desert Specials 2027

16 Feb 2027 - 28 Feb 2027 (13 days)

USD4,800 - Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change*

Tour price (Per person): USD4,800 * GBP3,717 * EUR4,449 * AUD7,662

The wonderfully diverse nation of India is well-known for its verdant landscapes and the snow-capped Himalayas. It therefore surprises many people to learn that India is also blessed with some incredible deserts, and our tour showcases this much-underrated habitat by exploring some of India’s less frequented parks and reserves in the county’s dry, western parts. Desert National Park, Tal Chappar and the Great and Little Ranns of Kutch are amongst the most important of the protected areas of western India and we will visit all of them.  We will also pay a visit to the more verdant Mt Abu. 

Along the way we are going to see some of the most threatened and rare birds not only of India but of the whole world. Species we are searching for include the Great Indian Bustard which sadly teeters on the brink of extinction, the almost equally rare White-browed Bush Chat, along with Indian Spotted Creeper, Yellow-eyed Pigeon, Green Avadavat, Sociable Lapwing, Macqueen’s Bustard, White-naped Tit and Marshall’s Iora. We also stand a great chance at picking up two of the more difficult monotypic families in the world, namely Crab-Plover and Grey Hypocolius. The general birding is excellent with lots of breeding specialties supplemented by vast numbers of overwintering northern migrants including famous congregations of cranes, impressive flocks of waterfowl and waders and several interesting passerines. Mammals are yet another interesting feature of this trip and along the way we can expect to see Blackbuck, Indian Gazelle, and Indian Wild Ass amongst others!

 

Top Birds

Great Indian & Macqueen’s Bustards; Grey Hypocolius; Crab-plover; huge numbers of Demoiselle & Common Cranes; Dalmation & Spot-billed Pelicans; Green Avadavat; Indian Spotted Creeper; Sociable Lapwing; Indian Courser; Red-headed, Cinereous & White-rumped Vultures; Eastern Imperial Eagle; White-eyed Buzzard; Laggar Falcon; Painted, Spotted & Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse; Sykes’s & Savanna Nightjars; White-naped & Indian Black-lored Tits; Marshall’s Iora; Brown Rock Chat; Pied & White-browed Bush Chats; Bimaculated, Rufous-tailed & Sykes’s Larks; Desert Whitethroat; Bay-backed Shrike; Rufous-fronted Prinia; Eastern Orphean & Asian Desert Warblers.

Top Mammals

Asiatic Wild Ass; Blackbuck; Nilgai; Chinkara (Indian Gazelle); with chances for Golden & Grey Wolves; Bengal and the desert subspecies of Red Fox; Striped Hyena; Jungle & Wild Cats.

Habitats Covered

semi-desert scrub, salt-flats, seasonal wetlands, grassland, scrubland, dry deciduous forest, coastline

Expected Climate

Variable temperatures from very cold to warm.

Max Group Size

8 with 1 Rockjumper leader & local birding leader

Tour Pace & Walking

MODERATE TO CHALLENGING: This tour requires a good level of fitness, stamina, and overall health. It’s best suited for experienced birders who are comfortable with a more active itinerary. Please note that it may not be ideal for avid photographers, new birders, or those with mobility or health concerns.

Moderate. Long travel days, many target species.

Accommodation

Variable. Comfortable in larger towns to basic at some sites.

Ease of Birding

Moderate to easy. Most species provide good visuals in open conditions but may require repeat attempts. Target driven tour with long days.

Photographic Opportunities

Good to very good in open conditions, lighting can be difficult. No dedicated hides.

What our clients say about us

David Hoddinott
SS, India 2018

David Hoddinott is wonderful and a great leader.

Peter Kaestner
JR, India 2020

This trip was great! We were told the trip should generate about 250 bird species and our total was very close. Peter was excellent at finding birds, leading us and keeping a positive group atmosphere. The local guides also were competent and helpful. Accommodations are not an important aspect of a trip to me but the ones we stayed at were excellent, as were the meals. The trip was an excellent introduction to India for me tho I was happy to have it very much concentrate on birding.

Nigel Redman
MC, India 2023

This was the first group birding tour Ive ever taken (meaning, more than myself and either one or two other persons). Rockjumper and Nigel Redman made it a very pleasurable experience, with wonderful birds, beautiful landscapes, and good flexibility and adaptability to the various challenges and obstacles thrown our way on the trip. I heartily recommend both this tour and Nigel Redman as a tour leader! I would happily go on any tour for which Nigel was the leader; his knowledge of ornithology, history, and birding folklore is encycylopedic, and his easy humor and casual nature made for happy hours in our vehicles or over dinner tables (this, in contrast to the group next to us in some of the dining halls, where hardly a word was spoken by any tour member when the trip leader was going through the days list; that was a dictatorship; Nigels tour was a democracy in many ways.)

Stephan Lorenz
MM & GM, Southern India 2018

We really enjoyed both tours. The leader, Stephan Lorenz, was very helpful and worked hard to make the birding trips a success. We appreciated the local guides on both trips as well. They were all very good at getting the job done and making it all enjoyable and seamless. We always feel we are in good hands when we go on a Rockjumper tour.

Stephan Lorenz
LC & PD, Northern India 2017

We had a wonderful trip with Rich Lindie and Stephan Lorenz, and we would certainly be happy to travel with either of them again. They were both excellent with the birds, had a great sense of humour, and were helpful and patient when individuals required extra assistance. In addition to the birding, we enjoyed a long list of mammals sighted in the various national parks. The accommodations and meals were also very good.

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