Dupont's Lark

    Chersophilus duponti

Castilian: Alondra ricotí

Catalan: Alosa becuda

Gallego: Calandra de Dupont

Euskera: Portugal-ko pirripioa

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Alaudidae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Vulnerable” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Endangered”.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

listen song

THREATS

Its population has dwindled due to the lost of habitat caused by forest repopulation, the clearing of steppe areas to make way for farming, the regeneration of shrubland due to the abandonment of certain agricultural and livestock practices, and natural predation.

Length / size: 18 cm / 26-31 cm

Identification: Small lark that is brown and grey with a light-coloured eye-ring and a relatively long and downward-curved bill. It prefers moving on foot over flying, and hides in vegetation before fleeing.

Song: It makes a fluty whistle from the ground or in flight, at sunrise or sunset.

Diet: It primarily feeds on insects and small seeds..

Reproduction: The breeding period begins in February. It builds the nest on the ground among small bushes and against the wind; the nest is made of leaves, twigs, hair and feathers; the chicks are very precocious and soon leave the nest. During the period, the species is subject to an elevated level of predation.

HABITAT

A steppe species that occupies plains and areas with low varied scrubland, thyme bushes, gorse shrubs, esparto grass, etc., and also farming areas during breeding season. It usually breeds from sea level up to an elevation of 1,500 metres.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is very fragmented and localised, limited to five principal concentrations: the Plateau highlands; the Iberian System highlands; the Ebro depression; La Mancha; and the southeastern part of the peninsula.

In Castile and León: It is distributed in two well-differentiated concentrations: one in the desolate highlands of the northest of the community, and the other in various places in western Zamora. It definitely breeds in Burgos, Palencia, Segovia, Soria and Zamora.

Movements and migrations: Its dispersive and wandering movements are not well known.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of a few thousand breeding specimens.

In Castile and León: Se estima una población de 2.500-3.500 parejas reproductoras.