The Dupont’s lark (Chersophilus duponti) is a small steppe bird of just 18 cm of brown and gray colors that is distinguished from its very similar relatives of the Alaudidae family by its stylized appearance and its downwardly curved beak. It is also characteristic that he prefers to walk rather than fly. Even if it has to flee, it chooses to hide among the vegetation to go unnoticed rather than take flight, making it difficult to see. The name ricotí comes from the popular onomatopoeia used by shepherds in reference to their peculiar song.

In Europe, this species can only be found in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically it lives in the moors of the Meseta, in the Iberian System, in the Ebro depression and in the southeast of the peninsula. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates between 2,200 and 2,800 pairs in Spain, although their number is constantly decreasing. It is also present in North Africa.

Its diet is made up of insects and small seeds that it finds among the crop fields or the thyme groves, gorse, espartals and other bushes in which it likes to settle.

The Dupont’s lark is one of the most endangered birds in Spain and Europe and is considered endangered in the Red Book of Birds of Spain. In the last decade, this species has experienced a serious decline in the number of specimens, as well as in their distribution due to the destruction or alteration of their environment. Reforestation and the abandonment of places formerly cared for by farmers and ranchers are the reasons that lead to their disappearance.

The project “Bases for the development of the National Strategy for the Conservation of the Dupont lark in Spain” that is being carried out by the Autonomous University of Madrid thanks to the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, aims to assess the threats to the protection of the species and serve as inspiration for future recovery and conservation plans of the Dupont lark that prevent the reduction of their populations.