Birding at Jawai Dam: A Winter Guide

Jawai Dam is the largest reservoir in western Rajasthan, and every winter it becomes one of the region's best birding spots. More than 150 species have been recorded around the dam and the scrub hills nearby.

When to go

November to March is peak season, when migrants arrive from Central Asia and Siberia. Early mornings are best, with calm water, soft light and the most activity.

Birds to look for

• On the water: greater flamingos, bar-headed geese, ruddy shelducks, northern pintails, spoonbills and painted storks
• On the shores: demoiselle and common cranes, black-winged stilts, sandpipers and plovers
• Raptors: Bonelli's eagle, short-toed snake eagle, Egyptian vulture and marsh harrier
• In the scrub: Indian courser, painted sandgrouse, larks, Indian eagle-owl and sirkeer malkoha

How our birding safari works

You get a private jeep with a birding naturalist and binoculars. We drive the reservoir edges, village wetlands and rocky scrub, stopping wherever the birds are. Leopards and hyenas sometimes appear too.

Birding etiquette

• Keep your distance from roosting and nesting birds.
• No playback calls.
• Stay in the jeep near the waterline. The shore mud is soft.

Combine a morning birding safari with an evening leopard drive for a full day in Jawai.