• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Range map
• Resources

Taxonomic note
Calandrella rufescens, including heinei group (AERC TAC [2003]; Cramp et al. [1977-1994]; Dowsett and Forbes-Watson [1993]; Sibley and Monroe [1990, 1993]) and C. cheleensis (Sibley & Monroe [1990, 1993]) previously lumped into Alaudala rufescens (Hoyo and Collar 2016). However, Ghorbani et al. (2020) and Alström et al. (2021) used an integrative approach to assess taxonomic limits within the Lesser Short-toed Lark Alaudala rufescens complex, combining data on genetics, morphology, songs, behaviour and bioclimatic preferences. Three clades emerge with strong support for species-level recognition. These are the western Mediterranean Short-toed Lark A. rufescens, a central Turkestan Short-toed Lark A. heinei, and an eastern Asian Short-toed Lark A. cheleensis. Subspecies polatzeki is treated as a synonym of rufescens, nicolli as a synonym of minor and baetica as a synonym of apetzii. Three subspecies currently recognized.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2022. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	unknown	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	8,700,000 km2
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	4,400,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	500000-999999 mature individuals	medium	inferred	2021
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.89 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3-100	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The species is considered to be common throughout its large range, but can be locally scarce (de Juana and Suárez 2021). Within its European range, Spain holds 230,000-260,000 pairs, with 10,000-20,000 pairs in the Canary Islands (BirdLife International 2021). Portugal further holds 10-100 pairs (BirdLife International 2021). This roughly equates to 480,000-560,000 mature individuals. The species is widespread in steppe country of Morocco, rare in Algeria, common in Tunisia and Egypt and are considered scarce to locally common in Israel and Jordan (de Juana and Suárez 2021). As such, although the population size has not been quantified elsewhere in its range, it is nevertheless considered to be fairly large, likely exceeding 500,000 mature individuals when combined with North African individuals, and is therefore placed here in the band of 500,000-999,999 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species is suspected to be undergoing a decline. Decreases have been reported in much of Iberia and is considered threatened or near-threatened at local levels (BirdLife International 2021, de Juana and Suárez 2021). This is primarily due to ongoing threats such as habitat loss by agriculture, grazing pressure, tourism, and predation (de Juana and Suárez 2021). An exact rate of reduction is however difficult to determine.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Algeria	extant	native	yes
Bulgaria	extant	native
Egypt	extant	native	yes
Iraq	extant	native				yes
Israel	extant	native	yes		yes
Jordan	extant	native	yes		yes
Libya	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	native			yes
Morocco	extant	native	yes
Palestine	extant	native	yes		yes
Portugal	extant	native	yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native			yes	yes
Spain	extant	native	yes
Syria	extant	native	yes			yes
Tunisia	extant	native	yes
Türkiye	extant	native
Western Sahara	extant	native	yes		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Spain	Bardenas Reales
Spain	Famara sandy plain
Spain	Hoya de Baza
Spain	Janubio saltpans
Spain	Lajares sandy plain-Cotillo-Ezquinzo
Spain	Los Molinos gully-Plain of La Laguna
Spain	Los Rodeos-La Esperanza
Spain	Monegrillo-Pina steppe area-Pina

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Desert	Hot	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	major	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Marshes/Pools	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 3000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Causing/Could cause fluctuations		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Mediterranean Short-toed Lark Alaudala rufescens. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/mediterranean-short-toed-lark-alaudala-rufescens on 05/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 05/01/2025.