Mongolian Short-toed Lark
Calandrella dukhunensis
A small lark with a short, conical bill. It appears long and horizontal, and has strong streaks on the upperparts. Very similar to Greater Short-toed Lark, but Mongolian Short-toed is slightly larger, is warmer brown with a rust-colored tinge on the breast and underparts, and has bolder streaking. It usually inhabits open, dry grassy habitats. Song is a prolonged melodious jumble of notes, often given in flight. Calls, often heard when individuals or flocks go overhead, are distinctly trilly, with a squeaky-wet quality to them: “tr’liu, tr’liu, liu, liu”; not as strong and insistent-sounding as the calls of Greater Short-toed Lark.
Identification
The Mongolian short-toed lark is darker and has a shorter bill than the greater short-toed lark. The Mongolian short-toed lark breeds on the Tibetan plateau and winters mainly in peninsular India.
Taxonomy
The Mongolian short-toed lark was originally placed in the genus Alauda. It was then considered as a subspecies of the morphologically similar greater short-toed lark, but recent analyses of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA showed that it was more closely related to Hume's short-toed lark. It was split in 2016 by the IOC, although not all other authorities have recognized this re-classification to date. Additionally, some authorities considered the Mongolian short-toed lark to be a subspecies of the red-capped lark. The name 'Mongolian short-toed lark' is also used as an alternate name for the Asian short-toed lark. The alternate name short-toed lark may also be used for three other species in the genus Calandrella.
- Scientific name
- Calandrella dukhunensis
- Authority
- (Sykes, 1832)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Calandrella
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : e Mongolia, nc China
- Non-breeding range
- to s India
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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