The Mongolian short-toed lark or Sykes's short-toed lark (''Calandrella dukhunensis'') is a species of

lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

in the family

Alaudidae Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occ ...

. It breeds in China and Mongolia and winters in southern Asia.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Mongolian short-toed lark was originally placed in the genus ''

Alauda ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species a ...

''. It was then considered as a subspecies of the morphologically similar

greater short-toed lark The greater short-toed lark (''Calandrella brachydactyla'') is a small passerine bird. The current scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, ''Calandrella'', is a diminutive of ''kalandros'', the calandra lark, and ''brachydactila' ...

, but recent analyses of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA showed that it was more closely related to

Hume's short-toed lark Hume's short-toed lark (''Calandrella acutirostris'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in south-central Asia from Iran and Kazakhstan to China. Taxonomy and systematics The name commemorates the British naturalist Allan ...

. It was

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

in 2016 by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

, 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 red-capped lark (''Calandrella cinerea'') is a small passerine bird that breeds in the highlands of eastern Africa southwards from Ethiopia and Somaliland. In the south, its range stretches across the continent to Angola and south to the Cap ...

. The name 'Mongolian short-toed lark' is also used as an alternate name for the

Asian short-toed lark The Asian short-toed lark (''Alaudala cheleensis'') is a lark in the family Alaudidae. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1871. It is found from south-central to eastern Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Formerly or presently, s ...

. The alternate name short-toed lark may also be used for three other species in the genus ''Calandrella''.

Description

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 The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

and winters mainly in peninsular India.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27907729 Mongolian short-toed lark Birds of Mongolia Birds of China Mongolian short-toed lark