Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary is a three-in-one
preserve offering exceptional scope for study for those with
interest in the nesting and breeding of Indian water-birds. During
the monsoon, egrets, herons, darters and spoonbills nest here.
Normally by
mid-August, the birds arrive and commence nesting.
The best time to visit the park is from October to late February,
when many migratory birds can be seen, including the highly
endangered Siberian crane. To escape the cold winter months,
migratory birds start arriving in October and by the first week of
November , the lakes are filled with coots, common teals, pintails,
garganey, teal , shoveller, pochard, mallard , Brahmany duck, eagle,
kingfisher, storks etc.Larger migratory birds like pelicans, greylag,
bareheaded geese, and flamingo arrive later. By the end of March,
most of them return to their nesting ground.
During summers, the park starts to dry up and fishes appear in
abundance.Hundreds of Sarus cranes also come from dry fields and
congregate in the park. Ground nesters like partridges, quails, and
lapwing and curlew breed during these days. They lay eggs on the
open ground.
Blue jay, hoopoe, hornbill, barbets, woodpeckers, parakeets etc. are
some of the birds that look after the young ones in the tree holes.
Weaverbird, sunbird and white-eye bulbul also breed during this
season. There are also Chital Deer, sambar, nilgai, feral cattle,
wild cats, whilst near python point, and also there are usually very
large rock pythons.
The park has a road from the main entrance to keoladeo temple.
Vehicles are permitted only up to Shanti Kutir barrier. The Forest
department’s Electra van can be engaged for going up to Keoladeo
temple and back. Bicycles and cycle rickshaws are also available
Shanti Kutir as well as the main gate. Nominal fee is levied for
entry into the park and for the use of cameras.
The sanctuary was formerly a vast semi arid region, filling with
water during the monsoon season only to rapidly dry up afterwards.To
prevent this, the maharaja of Bharatpur diverted water from a nearby
irrigation canal and, within a few years, birds began to settle in
vast numbers. Indeed keoladeo continued to supply the maharaja’s
tables until as late as 1965.An inscription on a pillar near the
small temple in the park bears testimony to the maharaja’s penchant
for hunting.
