The bird's common name and Latin binomial commemorate the British ornithologist John Sidney Ash.

[3] Such a description is insufficient, however, since as with some other lark species it is difficult to definitively describe the bird without comparison to its close relatives.

[3] Population data of Ash's lark from recent decades has been greatly lacking.

It is possible that Ash's lark is also present along the coast somewhat to the north of its known range since much of this land is little explored by ornithologists.

Typical behaviour is to run across bare ground between bunches of grass prior to perching atop a tussock.