NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Oriental Skylark
Alauda gulgula Franklin, 1831
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
The day was too foggy and it just started clearing up! This bird was busy surveying the vast dry river bank.
Hari K Patibanda · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
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.
Wikipedia contributors, Oriental skylark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:31:59.782917+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Alauda gulgula Franklin, 1831
- Name authority
- Franklin, 1831
- Common name
- Oriental Skylark
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Alaudidae
- Genus
- Alauda
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyAlaudidae Vigors, 1825
- genusAlauda Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesAlauda gulgula Franklin, 1831
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Alauda. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Eurasian SkylarkAlauda arvensis Linnaeus, 1758 | AlaudidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-winged LarkAlauda leucoptera Pallas, 1811 | AlaudidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Franklin, & James. (1831). Catalogue of Birds (systematically arranged) which were collected on the Ganges between Calcutta and Benares, and in the Vindhyian hills between the latter place and Gurrah Mundela, on the Nerbudda. Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London, Vol. 1. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5TW56. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.