Species names in all available languages
Language	Common name
Czech	skřivánek indický
Danish	Indisk Dværglærke
Dutch	Indische Zandleeuwerik
English (United States)	Sand Lark
French	Alouette raytal
German	Uferlerche
Icelandic	Hærulævirki
Japanese	インドコヒバリ
Norwegian	sanddverglerke
Persian	چکاوک شنی
Polish	skowrończyk malutki
Russian	Песчаный жаворонок
Slovak	škovránok retal
Spanish	Terrera Raytal
Spanish (Spain)	Terrera raytal
Swedish	sandlärka
Turkish	Çorak/Asya Çorak Toygarı

SPECIES

Sand Lark Alaudala raytal Scientific name definitions

Prasad Ganpule and Per Alström
Version: 2.0 — Published May 7, 2022

Account navigation Account navigation

Content Partner

Bird Count India

Tables and Appendices

Table 1

Linear measurements (in mm) for subspecies (mean and sample size n in parentheses when given)

Subspecies	Sex	Location	Wing	Tail	Bill*	Tarsus	Hind Claw	Length**	Head***	Ref
adamsi	F	-	78–84 (mean 81.2; n = 14)	42–48 (mean 43.7; n = 14)	-	-	-	-	-	Shirihai and Svensson 2018
	F	-	77–82	46–50	11–13^a	19–20	-	-	-	Ali and Ripley 1987
	F	-	77–82 (n = 2)	43–46 (n = 2)	12 (n = 2)^c	19–21 (n = 2)	-	-	-	Abdulali 1976
	F	Sindh	78–82 (mean 79.5; n = 6)	42–45 (mean 42.8; n = 6)	12–13 (mean 12.6; n = 6)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	F	Lahore	79–84 (mean 82.9; n = 8)	43–48 (mean 44.5; n = 8)	12–14 (mean 12.6; n = 8)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	M	-	80–89 (mean 84.9; n = 20)	40–51 (mean 46.8; n = 20)	-	-	-	-	-	Shirihai and Svensson 2018
	M	-	80–89	48–56	11–13^a	-	-	-	-	Ali and Ripley 1987
	M	-	78–88 (mean 83; n = 12)	46–52 (mean 49.5; n = 12)	10–13 (n = 12)^c	19–21 (n = 12)	-	-	-	Abdulali 1976
	M	Kachchh, Gujarat	80–89 (n = 4)	43–50 (n = 4)	12–13.5 (n = 4)^c	19–19.5 (n = 4)	-	-	-	Ali 1945
	M	Sindh	80–85 (mean 83.7; n = 11)	40–49 (mean 45; n = 11)	12–14 (mean 13.5; n = 11)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	M	Lahore	84–89 (mean 86.0; n = 9)	46–51 (mean 48.5; n = 9)	12.5–14.5 (mean 13.5; n = 9)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	U	-	-	-	12.0–14.5 (mean 13.1; n = 34)^a 10.0–11.4 (mean 10.8; n = 7)^b	18.3–19.3 (mean 18.7; n = 7)	4–7 (mean 6.2; n = 6)	-	-	Shirihai and Svensson 2018
	U	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27–30	Rasmussen and Anderton 2012
krishnakumarsinhji	F	-	78.5 (n = 1)^d	45 (n = 1)^d	13 (n = 1)^a,d	-	-	-	-	Vaurie and Dharmakumarsinhji 1954
	F	-	75, 77, 78, 79 (n = 4)	43, 44, 45, 46 (n = 4)	10, 11, 11, 12 (n = 4)^c	19. 20, 21 (n = 3)	-	-	-	Abdulali 1976
	M	-	65, 78, 80 (n = 3)	46, 46, 53 (n = 3)	11, 11, 11 (n = 3)^c	19, 19, 21 (n = 3)	-	-	-	Abdulali 1976
	U	-	76–85 (n = 11)	42–50 (n = 11)	12.5–13.5 (n = 9)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie and Dharmakumarsinhji 1954
	U	-	76–85 (n = 11)	42–50 (n = 11)	12–13 (n = 11)^a	-	-	-	-	Ali and Ripley 1987
raytal	F	Uttar Pradesh	76 (n = 1)	-	#	19 (n = 1)	-	-	-	Abdulali 1976
	F	Burma	73 (n = 1)	43 (n = 1)	13 (n = 1)^c	19 (n = 1)	-	-	-	Abdulali 1976
	F	Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh	79 (n = 1)	43 (n = 1)	15 (n = 1)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	F	Kalnahi, Uttar Pradesh	78, 80, 80 (n = 3)	38, 41, 41 (n = 3)	14, 15, 15.5 (n = 3)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	F	Bihar	79, 80 (n = 2)	42, 44 (n = 2)	14, 15 (n = 2)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	F	N Bengal	78 (n = 1)	41 (n = 1)	14.5 (n = 1)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	M	Uttar Pradesh	81 (n = 1)	52 (n = 1)	12 (n = 1)^c	19 (n = 1)	-	-	-	Abdulali 1976
	M	Burma	80 (n = 1)	47 (n = 1)	-	19 (n = 1)	-	-	-	Abdulali 1976
	M	Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh	78, 83, 85 (n = 3)	44, 44, 49 (n = 3)	14.5, 16, 16 (n = 3)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	M	Kalnahi, Uttar Pradesh	78–85 (mean 80.5; n = 6)	38–46 (mean 40.8; n = 6)	15–16 (mean 15.5; n = 6)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	M	Bihar	83–86 (mean 84.5; n = 5)	44–49 (mean 45.6; n = 5)	14.5–17 (mean 15.9; n = 5)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	M	N Bengal	81, 85 (n = 2)	43, 45 (n = 2)	14, 16 (n = 2)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	M	Assam	81 (n = 1)	43 (n = 1)	15 (n = 1)^a	-	-	-	-	Vaurie 1951
	U	-	74–83	41–47	c. 11–12^b	-	-	-	-	Ali and Ripley 1987
	U	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	31–34	Rasmussen and Anderton 2012
raytal/adamsi	U	-	-	46–57^e	-	-	-	100–120	-	Rasmussen and Anderton 2012

* - measurement styles vary: a - bill length to skull; b - bill length to feathering (measured to where culmen is covered by real feathers); c - unspecified
** - from front of crown to tip of tail
*** - length from bill tip to rear of skull
d - Type specimen
e - length from distal or lower edge of pygostyle (tail bone) to tip of longest complete rectrix
# - female with deformed bill – lower mandible measuring 14 mm while upper mandible is 9mm

Table 2

Linear measurements (in mm) for subspecies adamsi, krishnakumarsinhji, and raytal.

Values in parentheses refer to mean, standard deviation and sample size. NHMUK = The Natural History Museum, Tring, UK; MZUM = Michigan State University Museum, Ann Arbor, USA; AMNH = American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Wing flattened and stretched (maximum chord); bill length to skull; bill depth at nostrils.

Sex	Measurement	A. r. adamsi Sind (NHMUK)	A. r. krishnakumarsinhji Kathiawar (AMNH)	A. r. raytal West Bengal, Bihar (NHMUK)	A. r. raytal ("vauriei") Palasbari (MZUM)
Female	Wing	77.0–84.0 (80.4; 2.23; 11)	78.0–78.5 (78.2; 0.35; 2)	75.5–82.5 (78.1; 3.04; 4)	79.0–81.0 (79.7; 1.16; 3)
	Tail	41.5–48.0 (44.1; 2.02; 10)	37.0–42.0 (39.5; 3.54; 2)	38.5–47.0 (42.1; 3.54; 4)	40.5–43.0 (41.5; 1.32; 3)
	Bill Length	12.3–14.1 (13.1; 0.57; 11)	12.5–12.8 (12.6; 0.21; 2)	13.6–14.6 (14.0; 0.45; 4)	13.7–15.4 (14.4; 0.87; 3)
	Bill Depth	4.4–4.9 (4.7; 0.16; 10)	-	4.3–4.5 (4.4; 0.12; 3)	4.4 (–; –; 1)
	Tail/wing	0.52–0.57 (0.55; 0.01; 10)	-	0.50–0.57 (0.54; 0.03; 4)	-
Male	Wing	81.5–91.5 (87.5; 2.65; 13)	82.0 (–; –; 1)	82.5–86.0 (84.0; 1.12; 11)	81.5–84.0 (83.2; 1.19; 4)
	Tail	45.0–49.5 (48.3; 1.38; 13)	43 (–; –; 1)	43.0–47.0 (45.1; 1.41; 11)	44.0–47.0 (45.1; 1.32; 4)
	Bill Length	12.4–14.5 (13.6; 0.60; 13)	12.7 (–; –; 1)	14.2–16.0 (15.0; 0.57; 11)	14.1–15.3 (14.6; 0.51; 4)
	Bill Depth	4.5–5.3 (4.8; 0.27; 8)	-	4.3–4.9 (4.5; 0.19; 9)	4.3–4.7 (4.4; 0.19; 4)
	Tail/wing	0.54–0.57 (0.55; 0.01; 13)	-	0.52–0.56 (0.54; 0.02; 11)	-

Table from PA (unpublished data)

Table 3

Wing formula for Alaudala raytal raytal (5 males, 5 females, all adult/first-adult)

Distances from wing tip on folded wing in mm (mean). Primaries are numbered descendantly (P1 is the innermost P).

P4	P5	P6	P7	P8	P9	P10
12.5–15.5 (14.0)	7.5–9.5 (8.6)	2.5–4.5 (3.5)	0–1.5 (0.4)	0–0.5 (0.1)	0–2.0 (0.6)	minute

Table from PA (unpublished data)

Recommended Citation

Ganpule, P. and P. Alström (2022). Sand Lark (Alaudala raytal), version 2.0. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.sanlar1.02

Species names in all available languages

Revision Notes

Alaudala raytal (Blyth, 1845)

Definitions

The Key to Scientific Names

Legend Overview