A morning at the feeding ground
Circling first: the cranes gather in the sky in spirals, calling constantly, before they commit to landing.
Landing in waves: they come down in groups, legs dangling, wings spread wide, until the feeding ground is packed.
- Arrive
- Before sunrise
- Watch from
- A rooftop or the edge of the ground
- Feeding
- Grain scattered in walled enclosures
- Allow
- Two hours, unhurried
- The sound: a soft, purring trumpet from thousands of throats. It is the thing people remember most.
- Feeding: the birds walk shoulder to shoulder over the grain, heads down, with the occasional quarrel and a flurry of wings.
- Leaving: after feeding they lift off in groups and head out to the fields and ponds around the village for the day.
- Watch quietly: most visitors watch from the edge or from a nearby rooftop, where the view over the ground is best.
Meet the demoiselle
What to look for: soft blue-grey body, black neck and breast, a long black plume hanging from the chest and white tufts behind red eyes.
Where it breeds: on the open steppes of Central Asia, in countries such as Kazakhstan and Mongolia, before flying south for winter.
- Species
- Demoiselle crane, Grus virgo
- Size
- The smallest crane species
- Breeds
- The steppes of Central Asia
- Local name
- Kurja
- An epic journey: many demoiselles cross high mountains on migration, among the most remarkable flights of any crane.
- Where it winters: India is a key wintering ground, and western Rajasthan is one of the most important parts of it.
- The local name: in Rajasthan the crane is the kurja, and the name is older than the feeding at Khichan by centuries.
The long flight to the desert
From the steppe: demoiselles breed on the grasslands of Central Asia in spring and summer, raising usually two chicks on the open ground.
Families travel together: young cranes migrate with their parents, which is how they learn the route. Look for grey-headed juveniles beside the adults.
- Over the mountains: many demoiselles cross high mountain ranges on their way south, climbing on rising air and flying in long, wavering lines.
- The Central Asian flyway: Khichan lies on one of the great bird migration routes between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
- Loyal to places: cranes return to the same wintering grounds year after year, which is why a village's promise matters so much.
- The return: in March they head north again, timing their arrival on the steppe for the start of the breeding season.
How a village began feeding cranes
In the 1970s Ratanlal Maloo, a Khichan man home from working in Odisha, began feeding pigeons with his wife. One September a few demoiselle cranes landed among the pigeons, and the couple fed them too. Each winter more came, until the village found it had made a promise to the sky.
A Jain village: Khichan has a large Jain community, and feeding birds and animals is a long-held act of merit in the faith.
- Growing numbers: a handful of cranes became hundreds, then thousands. Local counts in good years have run into the tens of thousands.
- Dogs and a solution: as the flocks grew, village dogs began to hunt them, and the village set aside land on the edge for a fenced feeding ground.
- The chugga ghar: the walled feeding enclosure is called the chugga ghar, the house of grain. Cranes are fed there each morning through the season.
- Who keeps it going: a feeding committee of the local Jain community runs the daily feeding, funded by donations, with support from bird lovers across India.
How the village runs the feeding
Twice a day: through the season the cranes are fed in the morning and again later in the day.
Tonnes of grain: at the peak, feeding thousands of cranes takes a great deal of grain each day, bought with donations.
- A granary and a fence: the feeding ground has its own grain store and walls to keep dogs and cattle out.
- Donations from far away: Jain families from Khichan who live in other cities, and bird lovers across India, send money for grain.
- Volunteers: village men scatter the grain, clean the ground and keep an eye on sick or injured birds.
- A living tradition: nobody in Khichan calls it tourism. It is a duty, and visitors are welcome to watch it.
The kurja in Rajasthani song
The messenger bird: in Rajasthani folk songs, a woman whose husband has gone far away for work asks the kurja to carry her message to him.
A desert story: in a land where men left for months with caravans, armies or trade, the migrating crane was a natural go-between.
- Still sung: Manganiyar and Langa musicians still sing kurja songs. Ask for one if you hear them in Jaisalmer or Jodhpur.
- A double meaning: the merchant families of Marwar also left home for distant cities, which may be why the song still moves people here.
- Hear more: our page on the Manganiyar singers explains the desert's hereditary musicians.
A wintering crane's day
Night
- Safe roosts: cranes spend the night standing in shallow water or on open ground away from the village, where predators are easier to spot.
Dawn
- To the grain: they fly in to the feeding ground at first light, circling before they land.
- The busiest hour: this is the moment visitors come for.
Day
- Out to the fields: after feeding they spread over the fields and ponds around Khichan, resting, preening and drinking.
- Watch gently: with a guide you can see small groups at the ponds without crowding the feeding ground.
Afternoon
- A second feed: the cranes are fed again later in the day, a quieter scene with fewer visitors.
- Back to roost: at dusk the flocks lift off and head for their night roosts, calling as they go.
When to go
Late August to October, the first arrivals
- First flocks: the earliest cranes arrive from about late August or September, and numbers build through October.
- Warm days: mornings are pleasant, middays still hot. Go early.
November to February, the peak
- Biggest numbers: this is when the feeding ground is fullest and the spectacle most extraordinary.
- Cold dawns: desert mornings can be close to freezing in December and January. Bring a warm layer and a hat.
March, the farewell
- Departures: the cranes begin to leave for Central Asia, and numbers fall through the month.
- Heat building: by April the village is hot and the feeding ground empty. Our Rajasthan in January guide covers the best of the cool season.
How Khichan's cranes are protected now
A conservation reserve: in 2023 Rajasthan notified a small conservation reserve for the cranes at Khichan, described as India's first for demoiselle cranes.
A Ramsar site: Khichan's wetlands, including its ponds, were designated a wetland of international importance in 2025.
- Kurja Conservation Reserve
- Notified by Rajasthan in 2023
- Ramsar wetland
- Khichan designated in 2025
- Managed by
- The village feeding committee and the state
- Watch for
- Power lines, dogs, crowding
- Power lines: cranes flying in large flocks at dawn are vulnerable to wires, and collisions near the village have been reported over the years.
- Dogs: free-ranging dogs remain a threat to cranes feeding and resting on the ground.
- Food safety: feeding thousands of birds in one place means grain quality and hygiene matter, since disease spreads fast in a crowd.
- Visitors: more tourists bring money and attention, but also crowding and noise. How you behave matters.
Watching without disturbing
Stay back: watch from a rooftop or the edge of the enclosure. Never walk towards the birds or enter the feeding ground.
Keep still and quiet: sudden movements and loud voices flush the whole flock.
- No drones: a drone over the feeding ground can panic thousands of birds at once.
- No flash: at dawn the light is low, but flash startles birds. Raise your ISO instead.
- Respect the village: this is a working village and a Jain community. Dress modestly and ask before photographing people.
- Give something back: if you are moved, a donation to the feeding committee helps buy the grain. Your guide can show you where.
- Our wider rules: our ethical animal encounters page explains how we approach wildlife everywhere.
Photographing the cranes
From above: a rooftop gives you the pattern of thousands of grey bodies on pale sand, the classic Khichan picture.
In flight: the circling flocks against the dawn sky make wonderful silhouettes. A mid-range zoom is often enough.
- Close-ups: for portraits of single birds, 400 millimetres or more, shot from a fixed position at the edge.
- Light: the first hour after sunrise is soft and golden. By nine the light is hard and the birds are leaving.
- Video: bring a way to record sound. The calls are half the experience.
- More tips: our photography tips cover light and etiquette across Rajasthan.
Khichan, Phalodi and the village beyond the birds
Merchant havelis: Khichan's Jain merchant families built carved sandstone havelis, some still lived in, some empty and fading.
Phalodi next door: the bigger town beside Khichan is known for salt works and for heat. It recorded 51 degrees Celsius in May 2016, an Indian record.
- A new district: Phalodi became the headquarters of its own district in 2023, carved out of Jodhpur.
- Ponds and fields: after feeding, the cranes spend the day around village ponds and fields. With a guide you can watch them quietly there.
- On the way: the road from Jodhpur passes Osian, whose temples make a fine stop on the return.
Getting there, and fitting it in
On the way west: the best plan is an early start from Jodhpur on the road to Jaisalmer, with the cranes at dawn and Jaisalmer by the afternoon.
- From Jodhpur
- About three hours by road
- From Jaisalmer
- About three hours by road
- From Bikaner
- About three hours by road
- Nearest airport
- Jodhpur
- From the north: Khichan also fits between Bikaner and Jaisalmer, a long but beautiful desert drive.
- Stay close for dawn: to be there before sunrise, many birders sleep in a simple heritage guesthouse in Phalodi or Khichan the night before. We'll suggest one that suits you.
- Our journeys: Khichan fits our desert triangle and birding journey, and our Under the Thar Sky route on request.
Where to stay before and after
In Jodhpur, the night before: RAAS Jodhpur beneath the fort or Umaid Bhawan Palace, with a very early start.
- In Jaisalmer, the night after: Suryagarh or The Serai for a long rest after the drive.
- In the dunes: Manvar Desert Camp breaks the desert road with a night under the stars.
- For keen birders: a simple guesthouse in Phalodi or Khichan puts you at the feeding ground for the first light, and for the afternoon feed too.
Other places to see cranes in Rajasthan
Tal Chhapar: flocks of demoiselle cranes rest on the blackbuck grassland in winter. See Tal Chhapar and our piece on its blackbuck.
Jawai: demoiselle and common cranes gather in the fields around the reservoir. See Jawai.
- The Thar grasslands: demoiselles pass through the Desert National Park on migration.
- Bishnoi fields: cranes feed in the fields around Bishnoi villages south of Jodhpur in the cold months. Read about Bishnoi conservation.
- For keen birders: our birding page covers Bharatpur and the desert together.
What most visitors miss
The first circle: the spirals of cranes above the village before they land, in the half-light before sunrise.
The sound at close range: stand still on a rooftop and the calls of thousands of birds fill the whole village.
- The family groups: watch for pairs with a grey-headed youngster between them, still learning from its parents.
- The ponds: later in the morning, small groups drink and preen at village ponds, calmer and closer than at the feeding ground.
- The afternoon feed: quieter, warmer and almost empty of visitors, with long golden light on the birds.
- The people: the volunteers sweeping the ground and scattering grain. A word of thanks to them is the best souvenir of all.
Who will love it, and before you go
Who will love it: birders, photographers, families with children who can be quiet for an hour, and anyone moved by the kindness of strangers.
Who may not: travellers who dislike long drives and early starts, or who want a polished hotel nearby.
- Layers: desert dawns are cold in winter, and the rooftop is exposed. Bring a warm jacket, a hat and gloves.
- Binoculars: watch individual birds bickering and feeding, and the plumes on their chests.
- Small notes: for a rooftop host, a donation box or a cup of tea in the village.