Photo Feature

Siberian Stonechat
The Sporobolus sp. pictured here clothe our central Indian plains, but are remnants of a once-extensive grassland. Since the 1880s, India has lost 20 million hectares of grassland. Often treated as wastelands to be converted into tree plantations, agricultural land or industrial spaces, they are underrated and overexploited. Grasslands harbour a mosaic of species on which a wide variety of small and large taxa including birds are dependent. This Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus flies over vast distances each frozen winter and spends its time in rustling, scintillating, diamond-dropped grass blossoms, only to return to its distant summer home when food becomes available again. Photo: Sushil Chikane.

metallic wood boring beetle