Somali short-toed lark

The Somali short-toed lark (Alaudala somalica) is a small passerine bird of the lark family found in eastern and north-eastern Africa.

Somali short-toed lark
An 1897 illustration of the Somali short-toed lark
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alaudidae
Genus: Alaudala
Species:
A. somalica
Binomial name
Alaudala somalica
Sharpe, 1895
Synonyms
  • Alaudula somalica
  • Calandrella rufescens somalica
  • Calandrella somalica[2]

The habitat of the Somali short-toed lark is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.

Taxonomy and systematics

edit

The Somali short-toed lark was originally placed in the genus Calandrella until moved to Alaudala in 2014.[3] Formerly or presently, some authorities considered the Somali short-toed lark as a subspecies of the Mediterranean short-toed lark and/or the Athi short-toed lark as a subspecies of the Somali short-toed lark. The alternate name rufous short-toed lark is also used to describe the red-capped lark.

Subspecies

edit

Three subspecies are recognized:[4]

  • A. s. perconfusa - (White, CMN, 1960): Found in north-western Somalia
  • A. s. somalica - Sharpe, 1895: Found in eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia
  • A. s. megaensis - (Benson, 1946): Found from southern Ethiopia to central Kenya

References

edit
  1. ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Alaudala somalica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22717340A111109120. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22717340A111109120.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ Ryan, P. "Somali Short-toed Lark (Calandrella somalica)". Handbook of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. doi:10.2173/bow.sstlar1.01. S2CID 216384296. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Taxonomy 4.1 to 4.4 « IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  4. ^ "IOC World Bird List 6.4". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4.