When I first visited Spain with a group of birding friends in 1970, I was blissfully unaware that Dupont's Lark bred there (and perhaps of its existence at all). I was in good company none of the birding community back then knew it inhabited Spain. It didn't feature in The Atlas of European Birds (Voous 1960) and Peterson, then the only European field guide, told me it was a rare vagrant from North Africa. Even if it had acknowledged its presence in Spain, the few lines describing it would have been of little use without an illustration to back them up. The next two European field guides to appear, Hamlyn (1971) and Heinzel et al (1972), did illustrate it (badly) but the accompanying maps showed it was only found in North Africa so looking for them in Spain still wasn't on the agenda. It wasn't until a paper entitled "Dupont's Lark in the Spanish Steppes" appeared in British Birds in February 1983 that the species' presence in Spain was widely recognised.
Arthur Singer's lack of experience with European species is brutally exposed by this plate showing Dupont's Lark
Re-reading that paper, the authors seem rather coy about admitting that the local Aragonese birdcatchers knew more about Dupont's Lark than eminent ornithologists who really didn't have a clue that, rather than a rare vagrant, it was part of the area's breeding avifauna until they spoke to local birdcatchers. Quote: "The lack of sightings and records of Dupont's Lark Chersophilus duponti in the Aragonese steppe-lands of northern Spain in the last 20 years led us to think that this species was in a precarious situation in the country bordering the Ebro valley .... This century, in Aragon, there had been only three records: in 1918, 1967 and 1974. Dupont's Lark was, however, well known to birdcatchers in Saragossa province where, up to the 1960s, it was frequently caught and killed in the traps ... In that period, between 4 % and 6% of the larks killed in traps were 'rociines', an onomatopoeic name, very suggestive of the bird's song, by which Dupont's Lark was known in the region. With the widespread ploughing of the steppes since 1960, Dupont's Lark seemed to have disappeared, and no birdcatchers had given us any information on or reported captures of it since 1973". It was only in 1980 that the population was discovered by the birding community and its true status realised. In fairness, it should be recognised that Dupont's is much harder to see than other larks preferring to sing before it's light and run rather then fly. The 4th edition of Peterson (1983) was quick to correct the record but was rather vague about where it was found.
Iberia is exceptionally blessed with unique wildlife whether they be plants, reptiles, amphibians, mammals or birds. Amongst the latter are about a dozen species whose European range is entirely (or almost so) on the Iberian peninsula and three species - Iberian Green Woodpecker, Iberian Chiffchaff, Spanish Imperial Eagle - that essentially breed nowhere else in the world. Happily, most of these 'special' birds are not too challenging to see but, unsurprisingly, given its habits and history, Dupont's Lark. I'd tried to see them once back in 2001 but my attempt was hampered by not knowing precisely where to look and having little idea, beyond a wordy description, what they sounded like (plus a cold and reluctant wife for company). The Hamlyn guide's description of the song as "contains rasping notes" was vague and misleading. Heinzel did better by calling the song a "double whistle on a rising scale, hoo-hee". Peterson did better still describing the song as "short high, musical and nasal phrases, the most distinctive being "dzee-too-see" but, frankly, such descriptions make little sense until after you've heard the real thing (and often not even then).
Approximate area where we had Dupont's Lark - check eBird for GPS co-ordinates
Roll on to 2024 and the difference in the availability of information is startling. Dupont's Lark has now accrued over 2,000 observations (mainly from Spain) on eBird and Xeno-Canto lists 141 "foreground recordings" of the species. Even so, Dupont's still has a certain mystique and a reputation of being hard to see. Accordingly, I jumped at the chance to join my friends Brendan Ryan (who'd previously missed the species several times elsewhere in Spain) and Nigel Jarman (who only seen one silhouetted in song flight) this April to look for the species. With their field skills and hearing - I was uncertain if I'd be able to hear the species - I hoped we might catch a glimpse of this retiring species. I contacted my friend, Peter Humphries (resident in Madrid), for information whilst Brendan dug into eBird for likely sites. The conclusion was that we'd try for the bird at a site near Ablitas on the border of Navarre and Aragon, just over a three hour drive from Madrid airport. (Getting to the well-known Hoces del Rio Duraton site for the species would take half as long but Ablitas seemed the better bet (and there was an excellent low-cost Bed4U hotel only 15 minutes away in Tedula).
We arrived at Ablitas mid-afternoon to begin our search along a series of dirt tracks crossing what seemed to be perfect habitat - low dry scrub (see photos). Unfortunately, although we saw a few larks and other species, we heard and saw no sign of Dupont's Lark until dusk. Then several birds started to sing along the track we'd spent much of the afternoon investigating. Nigel and I caught a glimpse of a bird scurrying around where one had been singing and as dusk gave way to darkness, I had a brief view of a vague shape sitting up on a rock from the direction of a singing Dupont's. Disappointing, but at least we knew we were in the right area!
We arrived the next morning before it was light and were treated to a chorus of 13+ Dupont's Lark singing away along the track in the dark. As the light grew most of these birds fell silent, but one continued to sing unabated. After some anxious moments, Brendan spotted the alaudine chorister on top of a small rock. This bird proved to be surprisingly showy changing its song perch several times as we watched. Although the bird mainly sang from the ground using small boulders or low bushes as song posts, it also launched itself into its song-flight several times. Far from the mere glimpse I had feared, the bird favoured us with excellent 'scope views. Against all expectation, I even managed to get some decent photos and video footage with my bridge camera (Nikon Coolpix 900). I was both surprised and delighted by how clearly I could hear it singing (probably helped by my inability to detect other songsters!). We returned the next morning for a repeat performance and the bird duly obliged. This time, we also had views of two birds as they sprinted through the low scrub. Only the word "sprint" will do as "run" hardly does justice to the speed and acceleration that the birds demonstrated. They're not so much larks as mini-Roadrunners. Walking along an old track to a distant ruin, managed to locate a third bird singing a couple of hundred metres away (see photos). I've since read that Dupont's will often sing during the day but we had heard none the previous afternoon and 80% of the birds here fell silent shortly after dawn. So my advice is to get there pre-dawn to work out where the birds are singing and then quietly scan from the track (perhaps using you vehicle as a hide) for any movement.
Sadly, Dupont's Lark is in trouble. As noted above we had at least 13 songsters along a couple of kilometres of track at Ablitas. There seemed a lot of suitable habitat for the species in the area but evidently the birds we heard represent a third or more of the local population. Nationally, a recent survey found just under 2,300 territorial males but this figure gives an over optimistic picture as males outnumber females. Research in 2018 suggested that there were only 1,200-1,400 pairs and that the population is falling at about 4% per annum. The primary cause of decline seems to be habitat loss and fragmentation leaving many sub-populations vulnerable. Even the population at Ablitas may be at long-term risk as it is relatively isolated and the indications are that genetic exchanges between populations are low. Unless urgent remedial work is undertaken it looks likely that the species will soon become extinct in Andalusia, Valencia, Murcia and Cataluna. A key problem is that much of the population lies outside reserves and protected areas so at risk from the constant nibbling away of its habitat. Having been 'lost' for most of its history it would be tragic to lose them entirely.
For a species list of what we saw and some better photos look at eBird Checklist - 14 Apr 2024 - 31523, Ablitas ES-Navarra 41.95917, -1.61279 - 23 species
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