Voice
A characteristic, quiet purring 'peert' or 'prrr-rrr-rrr', uttered in flight. Song is varied, melodious, and interspersed with mimicry and given in a spiralling flight.
Asian Short-toed Lark (Alaudala cheleensis) [XC483663]
by Phil Gregory from Altanbulag, Tov, Mongolia (flight call, song)
Asian Short-toed Lark (Alaudala cheleensis) [XC468481]
by Frank Lambert from Bayan Nuur, Mongolia (song, song flight)
Subspecies
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens).
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
leucophaea (Severtsov, 1873) - Breeds Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan (south of Kyzyl Kum) and south-eastern Kazakhstan east to L Balkhash and Fergana Basin. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens).
seebohmi Sharpe, 1890 - Southern Russia (Tuva), western Mongolia and extreme north-western China (Xinjiang, from Tien Shan south to Kashgaria, east to R Khostan). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens).
tuvinica (Stepanyan, 1975) - North-western Mongolia and southern Russia.
cheleensis (Swinhoe, 1871) - South-central to eastern. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens).
kukunoorensis Przewalski, 1876 - West-central China (Qaidam Basin, in northern Qinghai). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens).
beicki (Meise, 1933) - South-western Mongolia and bordering areas of northern China (Gansu, Ningxia). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens).
stegmanni Meise, 1937 - North-central China (north-western Gansu). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens).
tangutica Hartert & Steinbacher, 1933 - Southern Qinghai and north-eastern Tibet. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Lesser Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens).