Turkestan short-toed lark

The Turkestan short-toed lark (Alaudala heinei) 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.[1] It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Mediterranean short-toed lark (A. rufescens) but a 2020 study recovered them as distinct species.[2][3]

Turkestan short-toed lark
Specimen at Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Alaudidae
Genus:	Alaudala
Species:	A. heinei
Binomial name
Alaudala heinei (Homeyer, 1873)

Subspecies

Four subspecies are recognized:[1]

• A. h. pseudobaetica - (Stegmann, 1932): Found in eastern Turkey, Transcaucasia and northern Iran
• A. h. heinei - (Homeyer, 1873): Found from Ukraine to eastern Kazakhstan
• A. h. aharonii - (Hartert, 1910): Found in central Turkey
• A. h. persica - Sharpe, 1890: Found in eastern and southern Iraq to southern and south-western Afghanistan

References

1. "Nicators, reedling & larks « IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
2. "Alaudala [rufescens or heini, excl. niethammeri] (Mediterranean or Turkestan Short-toed Lark [excl. niethammeri]) - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
3. "Multiple species delimitation approaches applied to the avian lark genus Alaudala". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 154: 106994. 2021-01-01. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106994. ISSN 1055-7903.

• International Ornithological Congress (January 23, 2021). "IOC World Bird List". Retrieved January 23, 2021.