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. This species and the Mediterranean short-toed lark (A. rufescens) were formerly considered conspecific and called the lesser short-toed lark, but a 2020 study recovered them as distinct species.

Subspecies
Four subspecies are recognized:


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