Dupont's Lark conservation work shows encouraging results in Spain
The number of singing males on the Embid plateau has risen from four in 2022 to 34 in 2025 following habitat restoration and the release of translocated birds.
According to Ornithomedia, a conservation programme for Dupont’s Lark in central Spain is showing very encouraging early results, with the number of singing males on the Embid plateau rising sharply after habitat restoration and the transfer of birds from other areas.
The work forms part of the LIFE Connect Ricotí project, which aims to improve the future of Dupont’s Lark Chersophilus duponti, one of Europe’s most threatened and elusive steppe birds. On the high limestone plateau around Embid, in the province of Guadalajara, the number of singing males has increased from just four in 2022 to 34 in 2025.
The increase follows a combination of practical habitat work and translocations. Conservationists have cleared and felled trees and shrubs to restore the open steppe vegetation favoured by the species, while at least six birds have been transferred to the area since 2023. Between 2023 and 2025, 30 males and 12 females were captured in the municipalities of Atienza and Torrubia, in Guadalajara, before being moved to release sites in Cuenca and Guadalajara, including Embid. The birds were fitted with GPS transmitters.
Dupont’s Lark is a highly specialised bird of dry, open steppe with grasses, low shrubs and bare ground. It avoids more rugged landscapes and areas dominated by crops or pasture, and its limited dispersal ability means that isolated populations can be especially vulnerable once habitat becomes unsuitable.
In Europe, the species breeds only in Spain, where its population is fragmented across several main regions, including the Iberian System, the Ebro Valley, the northern and southern plateaus, and south-eastern Spain. The most recent estimate puts the Spanish population at 3,116 singing males, but only 45% are in protected areas.
Although the overall decline now appears less severe than earlier feared, thanks partly to improved survey coverage, the picture remains worrying. Known occupied areas have declined by 17%, and peripheral populations have suffered particularly badly, losing 79% of their birds since 2007.
The main threat remains the loss, degradation and fragmentation of suitable steppe habitat, caused by cultivation, overgrazing and infrastructure development. LIFE Connect Ricotí is seeking to address this by restoring habitat, improving links between isolated populations and working with local communities to raise awareness of the species.
Ornithomedia reports that the results from Embid suggest restoring suitable steppe vegetation and releasing birds into carefully managed areas can help Dupont’s Lark return to places where it was formerly present or had become very rare. However, the 2026 breeding season will be important in confirming whether the recovery is sustained.
For a bird that is rarely seen and most often detected by its soft, distinctive dawn and dusk song, the increase in singing males on the Embid plateau is a hopeful sign. It shows that, with targeted habitat work and long-term management, even one of Europe’s most specialised steppe birds can begin to respond.
June 2026
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