Bird Sanctuaries & Wetlands
Wildlife & Safari
Wetlands and lakes on the migratory flyways — Bharatpur, Chilika, Sultanpur, Mangalajodi.
6 places
Odisha
Chilika & Rambha Coast
Where Asia's largest brackish lagoon, Chilika, meets the sea, this coast is famed for Irrawaddy dolphins, vast migratory birdlife and empty island beaches. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Rajasthan
Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur)
Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's finest bird sanctuaries. A man-made wetland created by a former ruler, it hosts hundreds of resident and migratory bird species, from painted storks and herons to wintering waterfowl, and was historically a rare wintering ground of the Siberian crane.
Chandigarh
Parrot Bird Sanctuary, Chandigarh
The parrots keep their own timetable, flying out in flocks in the morning and coming back in the evening. That clock is photoperiodism, which is why the corporation's high-mast lights once wrecked their sleep until a resident raised it and the lights were switched off. The Sector 21 sanctuary is small, but two parks adjoin it and the flocks settle in those trees as well, so you are not tied to one spot. Go at either end of the day. In the flat middle hours there is little here beyond the benches teenagers call the Taj Mahal benches.
Uttar Pradesh
Patna Bird Sanctuary
Come in winter, or don't come. The lake here is small: a single square kilometre of water inside a sanctuary of 1.09, which makes it the smallest bird sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh. In the cold months it carries something like 200,000 birds across 300 species, among them pintail, shoveler, Baer's pochard and black-necked stork. By summer the whole surface vanishes under water hyacinth and Potamogeton and there is little left to look at. It lies near Jalesar in Etah district, was founded in 1991, and became a Ramsar site in 2026.
Karnataka
Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary
Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, on islets in the Kaveri river near Srirangapatna and Mysuru, is the largest bird sanctuary in Karnataka. Its riverine islands host large breeding colonies of painted storks, pelicans, herons, ibises and cormorants, while marsh crocodiles bask along the banks, all easily seen on a short boat ride.
Chilika & Rambha Coast
Nalabana Bird Sanctuary
A lagoon island that hosts huge flocks of migratory birds.