Oriental Skylark

About the Oriental Skylark

The Oriental skylark (Alauda gulgula) is a species of skylark found in the Sino-Indian region and parts of central Asia. Like other skylarks, it is found in open grassland where it feeds on seeds and insects. The Oriental skylark was described by the English soldier and naturalist James Franklin in 1831 and given the binomial name Alauda gulgula. The meaning of the specific epithet gulgula is uncertain but is perhaps a reference to the song as gula is Latin for "throat", or maybe the colour of a gulgula, a sweet which looks like doughnut, made in many parts of Central India.

Other alternate names for the Oriental skylark include small skylark, eastern skylark, Indian skylark and lesser skylark. Nine subspecies are accepted: A. g. inconspicua Severtsov, 1873: southern Kazakhstan to eastern Iran, Pakistan and north-western India; originally described as a separate species

A. g. lhamarum Meinertzhagen, R & Meinertzhagen, A, 1926: Pamir Mountains and western Himalayas A. g. australis Brooks, WE, 1873: south-western India; originally described as a separate species A. g. inopinata Bianchi, 1905: Tibetan Plateau and north-western China

A. g... Wikipedia →