In October 2025, Birdwatching Asia was privileged to have been invited for a 7-day birding & wildlife tour around Gujarat, courtesy of Gujarat Tourism and Asian Adventures. The last stop on this tour is Blackbuck National Park, where we were looking to spot the eponymous Blackbucks as well as other animals. Additionally, the park is well-known as a hotspot for a variety of birds, including some rare species. Thus, we were very much looking forward to birding at Blackbuck National Park.
Birding at Blackbuck National Park: Trip Report
Preamble
Our visit to Blackbuck National Park came after the Global Wildlife Fair 2025 concluded, and was the final stop of a 7-day birding and wildlife tour around Gujarat. The tour is essentially a familiarisation trip sponsored by Gujarat Tourism as part of their efforts to promote eco-tourism within the state to international markets. Additionally, Asian Adventures were instrumental in organizing the logistics of the entire trip.
Birdwatching Asia were joined by 10 other people from across the globe, all of whom are involved in the eco-tourism industry. Our group spent 1 night (18/10/2025) at Blackbuck Safari Lodge, a well-appointed resort hotel located a few minutes drive from the national park.
Intro to Blackbuck National Park
Blackbuck National Park is located in the middle of the state of Gujarat, about 135 km south from Ahmedabad. The closest village is Velavadar, right at the park’s doorstep. This National park was established in 1976, and encompassess an area of 34.08 km2. Like many nature reserves in India, this area was formerly a hunting ground for Maharajas.
Access to Blackbuck National Park
Similar to the other National Parks that we visited during our Gujarat tour, Blackbuck NP can only be accessed by organized safaris. Unlike the previous parks, Blackbuck NP can be accessed using private vehicles, although visitors will still need to pay the permit and entrance fees, as well as a mandatory park guide/ranger to accompany them.
Habitat Types at Blackbuck National Park
Blackbuck NP is divided into two main habitat types:
- Grasslands. Some areas have taller grasses than others. The grasslands were broken up by clumps of thorny Prosopis bushes.
Grasslands within Blackbuck NP - Wetlands. During the drier months, these wetlands retain water and attract a variety of wildlife.
Wetlands at Blackbuck National Park
Our Experience Birding at Blackbuck National Park
For our visit, we made use of the jeep safaris, quite similar to the ones we used at Gir and Little Rann of Kutch. Just like before, our group was divided into three vehicles, but this time with a slight difference. One vehicle was designated a ‘mammal’ jeep – meaning the guide prioritized searching for mammals rather than birds! Naturally, we went on the ‘birding’ jeep 😉.
While we were birding at Blackbuck National Park, I truly felt like we were having a safari in the African savannas. While I’ve never actually been to Africa before, the scenery at Blackbuck NP was nearly identical to the African scenes that I’ve seen in wildlife documentaries. The large expanse of grasslands, punctuated by clumps of thorny bushes (these look like Acacia trees) and of course, the roaming herds of ungulates made me feel like we were in another continent altogether!
Last thing to note regarding our visit to Blackbuck NP. Due to the compressed timeframe of the tour, we were only able to visit the park for one safari session, which was on the afternoon of 18 October 2025.
Bird Species Seen While Birding at Blackbuck National Park
We recorded 74 species of birds while birding at Blackbuck National Park (two lifers for me). While many of these were grassland species such as pipits, larks and raptors, the wetland areas were teeming with various waterfowl and shorebirds. Notable species include:
- Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus). These are elegant birds that fly gracefully above the grasslands as they search for prey. We saw this species in good numbers. The males are relatively easy to ID since they are bluish-grey and have black bars on their wings.
- Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus). Similar to the Montagu’s, but the males lack the black wing-bars. The females of both species are much more difficult to separate, though.
- Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus). These harriers are slightly bigger with an altogether different plumage than the previous two species.
- Sykes’s Lark (Galerida deva). A lifer. Small bird that resembles the Crested Lark, but has a noticeably shorter and chunkier bill.
- Long-billed Pipit (Anthus similis). Rather similar to the Tawny Pipits that we saw at the Kutch. Challenging to ID, but that’s what our bird guides are for!
- White Wagtail (Motacilla alba). A bird that has many different subspecies, and hence, plumage patterns. The ones we saw at the park were possibly from the subspecies personata.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of the star birds here, such as the Amur Falcon or the Lesser Florican. Next time, maybe?
What is a Blackbuck?
No prizes for guessing what Blackbuck National Park is famous for! The Blackbuck (Antelope cervicapra) is a type of antelope that is native to the Indian Subcontinent. Blackbuck National Park is one of the best places to see this unique ungulate. Nevertheless, they are relatively common across India, and may be seen at various National Parks throughout the country.
In common with many other antelope species, the Blackbuck is a social animal and roams the grasslands in herds. While the females look pretty much like other species of gazelles, the males (bucks) are rather unique. Once mature, the bucks develop stunning chocolate-brown upperparts, which contrasts beautifully with its bright white ‘spectacles’ and underparts. The horns are ringed, and have a spiral appearance. A handsome animal indeed.
Like many other wildlife species in the world, the Blackbuck used to be hunted until some populations were threatened with extinction. Thankfully, this stunning species is now fully protected under Indian law, and their populations are no longer under threat.
Other wildlife within Blackbuck National Park
While birding at Blackbuck National Park, we were also on the lookout for other animals. Besides the Blackbucks, notable animals that we saw include:
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- Jungle Cat (Felis chaus). A relative of the humble domestic cat. Our jeep got a quick glimpse of an individual crossing the dirt road. Another jeep (appropriately, the ‘mammal’ jeep) got long views and good photos.
- Indian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). A pack of 6 wolves were spotted resting at the wetland area, just before sunset. As soon as our ranger found out about this, our jeep made a beeline to the location, as we were at the other side of the park at that time!
- Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus)
- A softshell turtle, probably the Indian Flapshell Turtle (Lissemys punctata).
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Striped Hyaenas, foxes or jackals on our safari. That would be greedy….
Hotel Scops-Owl
We left Blackbuck Safari Lodge on the morning of 19 October 2025. But before leaving, the in-house guide at the hotel showed us a special bird – a Pallid Scops-Owl (Otus brucei)! According to him, this owl has been roosting at the same spot within the hotel’s compounds for some time.
One caveat: After some research using my field guide (Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, Grimmett et al), this individual might be a Eurasian Scops-Owl (Otus scops) instead. Features pointing towards this ID include its wing projecting beyond the tail and darker, more heavily patterned underparts. Both species are very similar and may be seen in Gujarat as winter visitors. However, since I don’t have much experience with Indian owls, I’ll leave it to the experts to decide which species it ultimately is. Either species are lifers for us anyway.
Last, but certainly not least…
As we made our way to Ahmedabad Airport to end our 7 day tour, our expert bird guide, Mr Mahesh Jadon had one last surprise for us. When our chartered bus pulled over at a roadside R&R stop, I assumed it was for the usual toilet break. But then I heard our guide mention the ‘C’ word, and my heart jumped a little. We weren’t stopping for the ‘can’, but for the Courser instead!
Subsequently, we walked along the busy highway to an unremarkable patch of agricultural fields. Within moments I spotted them – three Indian Coursers (Cursorius coromandelicus) foraging on the fields in the typical courser run-stop-run-stop style. What a moment! Here, at a seemingly random R&R stop, we were looking at arguably the best bird of the tour. Needless to say, this was a lifer moment for all of us.
It turned out this R&R stop wasn’t a known place for the bird. Rather, our guide just happened to spot the birds out of the corner of his eye, while the bus was moving. Truly a testament to his skill and experience as a bird guide. A bit of luck as well, as according to him, this bird is getting harder to see due to the loss of its preferred habitat.
Conclusion
Unquestionably, we had a great time birding at Blackbuck National Park, even though we only visited for one afternoon session. True, we didn’t see any ‘star’ birds. But seeing so many other fantastic fauna amidst such beautiful grassland landscapes certainly more than made up for it. And how can we forget our encounter with the Indian Courser? That was just the perfect ending to a wild and wonderful 7-day tour of Gujarat.
We look forward to visiting Gujarat again in the future, and spending more time to truly explore it and see what else this incredible Indian state has to offer.
