Asian Short-toed Lark

SCI Name:  Alaudala cheleensis
Protonym:  Alaudula cheleënsis Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt2 p.390
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Alaudidae / Alaudala
Taxonomy Code:  lstlar2
Type Locality:  Talien Bay, near Port Arthur.
Author:  Swinhoe
Publish Year:  1871
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

ALAUDALA
(Alaudidae; Ϯ Sand Lark A. raytal) Dim. < genus Alauda Linnaeus, 1758, Skylark; "Genus ALAUDALA, Blyth, MS. Indian Ornith. p. (1855).  713. ALAUDALA RAYTAL, F. (Buch.) Hamilton Sp.   ...   Aggia Lark, var. A., Lath., Hist. of Birds, VI, p. 308.  The Sand Lark, Blyth.  RAYTUL, Hind.  ... This bird abounds on the white sand-dunes of the Hooghly, where the stream, unchecked by the tide, deposits only fine sand, and the alluvial country round (from this cause) is everywhere light and arenaceous; this Sand Lark being scarcely ever seen except on the flat deposits of the white sand within each bend of the stream; but there they are very numerous, and (as usual) their colour approximates that of the surface.  It is not much of a musician; but often ventures on short snatches of song, frequently without rising from the ground; and I never saw it mount high like its musical neighbour the A. malabarica, whose habits and song closely resemble those of A. arvensis. The haunts of these two species border, and they may commonly be seen and heard at the same time; but this will be on the confines of each other's territory." (Horsfield & Moore 1858); "Alaudala Horsfield and Moore, 1858, Cat. Birds Mus. East-India Co., 2, p. 471. Type, by monotypy, Alauda raytal Blyth." (Peters 1960, IX, p. 44).
Var. Alaudula.

cheleensis
Chelee Province (= Chihli = Liaoning), China.

SUBSPECIES

Asian Short-toed Lark (cheleensis)
SCI Name: Alaudala cheleensis cheleensis
cheleensis
Chelee Province (= Chihli = Liaoning), China.

Asian Short-toed Lark (leucophaea)
SCI Name: Alaudala cheleensis leucophaea
leucophaea
Gr. λευκοφαης leukophaēs  white-gleaming, shining white  < λευκος leukos  white; φαινω phainō  to shine (cf. λευκος leukos  white; φαιος phaios  dusky, brown).
● ex “Dirigang Creeper” of Latham 1801 (Cormobates).

Asian Short-toed Lark (kukunoorensis)
SCI Name: Alaudala cheleensis kukunoorensis
kukunoorensis
Koko-nor Range, Tibet.

Asian Short-toed Lark (seebohmi)
SCI Name: Alaudala cheleensis seebohmi
seebohmi
Henry Seebohm (1832-1895) British businessman, ornithologist, oologist, traveller (subsp. Alaudala rufescens, Amphilais, syn. Anthus gustavi, Atlapetes, subsp. Charadrius alexandrinus, syn. Chloris sinica kittlitzi, syn. Himantopus leucocephalus, Horornis, syn. Lanius borealis sibiricus, Locustella, Oenanthe, syn. Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus, subsp. Picoides kizuki, syn. Poecile palustris hensoni, subsp. Rhinoptilus cinctus, subsp. Turdus poliocephalus).

Asian Short-toed Lark (beicki)
SCI Name: Alaudala cheleensis beicki
beicki / beickianus
Walter Beick (1883-1933) Swedish/Estonian ornithologist, collector, explorer in Tibet and China 1926-1933 (subsp. Aegolius funereus, subsp. Alaudala rufescens, syn. Calliope calliope, subsp. Carpodacus stoliczkae, syn. Cinclus cinclus przewalskii, syn. Dendrocopos major stresemanni, syn. Phoenicurus schisticeps, syn. Prunella rubeculoides, syn. Rhopophilus pekinensis albosuperciliaris).

Asian Short-toed Lark (stegmanni)
SCI Name: Alaudala cheleensis stegmanni
stegmanni
● Dr Boris Karlovich Shtegman (1898-1975) Russian ornithologist, systematist, zoogeographer (subsp. Alaudala rufescens, subsp. Charadrius mongolus (ex Charadrius mongolus littoralis Shtegman, 1937), syn. Cyanopica cyanus, syn. Passer montanus, syn. Phragmaticola aedon rufescens, syn. Uragus sibiricus).
● Capt. Kurt von Stegmann und Stein (1874-1912) German Army, Resident at Usumbura, Burundi, German East Africa 1911-1912 (syn. Lophoceros alboterminatus geloensis).

Asian Short-toed Lark (tangutica)
SCI Name: Alaudala cheleensis tangutica
tangutica / tangutorum
Tangut, Tanghut or Qiang-Hu, a people and former state of north-west China and Tibet, destroyed by the Mongols under Genghiz Khan. Later the name was used as a general term for Kansu and Tibet.