Turkestan short-toed lark


The Turkestan short-toed lark is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in Ukraine and central Turkey through parts of Central Asia and southern Siberia west to south-central Mongolia and south to southern Afghanistan. This species and the Mediterranean short-toed lark were formerly considered conspecific and called the lesser short-toed lark, but a 2020 study recovered them as distinct species.

Etymology

The genus name Alaudala is the diminutive of Alauda. The specific name heinei commemorates the German ornithologist Ferdinand Heine.

Subspecies

Four subspecies are recognized:Alaudala heinei pseudobaetica - : Found in eastern Turkey, Transcaucasia and northern IranAlaudala heinei heinei - : Found from Ukraine to eastern KazakhstanAlaudala heinei aharonii - : Found in central TurkeyAlaudala heinei persica - Sharpe, 1890: Found in eastern and southern Iraq to southern and south-western Afghanistan