Rufous-tailed Lark (Ammomanes phoenicura) — the shrinking song of India’s open plains

Rufous-tailed Lark perched on dry grassland terrain in the Deccan Plateau region of India

The Rufous-tailed Lark is a plain, ground-dwelling lark of the drier, open landscapes of the Indian subcontinent. Once commonly seen in stony fallows, scrub and open agricultural land, it has become noticeably harder to find in many places over the last five years. Local observers — including birders around Mysore — report far fewer encounters […]