Salt and Pepper

This one is a male – which you can tell by its look— sandy brown above, an ash-grey cap, a bold black face and underparts broken only by a pale cheek. The male and female of this species look distinctly different. The male is more striking. The female, a lot easier to miss in this environment.

This small, ground-dwelling passerine bird is widely found across the plains of South Asia, mostly in open, dry habitats. It prefers dry scrub and sandy fields or rocky country. And is a ground-dweller – which is where I spotted this little one, sitting low on the open salt of Little Rann of Kutch.

Sparrow larks forage on the dirt for seeds, supplementing their diet with insects like grasshoppers during the breeding season.

This one had the open flat to itself in the morning light. While I had to lie flat on the ground to get a decent shot.