Threats

Harvesting at the same time as nesting. This species breeds in hay or grain fields and in scrubland areas. In the case of hay, in green crops, with early cutting, it coincides with the species' breeding season, unintentionally destroying nests made on the ground, which may contain eggs or juveniles.

As the species often makes replacement clutches when the first ones fail, it is also common to have nests in grain fields, which will also be cut, resulting in a real ‘ecological trap’. 

Habitat loss associated with the reduction of cereal crops in detriment to other crops and land uses, often subsidised by agricultural or forestry policies. The adoption of the Common Agricultural Policy has led to the progressive abandonment of traditional rainfed agriculture, negatively affecting steppe species.

The management of scrub and uncultivated land can have a significant impact on the habitat available for nesting and feeding, or even lead to the destruction of existing nests, particularly when management measures are implemented to reduce the risk of fire or to enhance grazing areas, such as controlled fires.

Wind turbines and solar panels can negatively affect the species, not only because they represent a significant change in land use, but also because, in the case of wind turbines, they can directly cause mortality.

Wind farms pose a direct risk due to the possibility of collision with the blades and the disturbance caused by noise and human presence, which can drive birds away from their nesting and feeding areas.

Solar power plants, in addition to the associated disturbance, cause the loss and fragmentation of nesting and feeding habitats due to the occupation of land with all the associated infrastructure, including power lines. 

Ecological factors such as predation of eggs and chicks by wild species (e.g., foxes and wild boars) and domestic species such as cats, or kleptoparasitism (an ecological relationship in which one species steals food from another), place additional pressure on a species that is already experiencing a sharp decline in population.

The increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events as a result of climate change, such as untimely torrential rains, floods, heat waves, large fires or extreme droughts, is emerging as a growing threat, contributing to decreased productivity, increased mortality and reduced fertility at the population level.

The increased use of agrochemicals directly and indirectly affects bird populations that feed on insects and small mammals, increasing mortality and reducing reproductive capacity, and decreasing prey populations. Although cereal crops in Portugal use little or no phytopharmaceuticals, agrochemicals may be used on other agricultural crops in areas where the species occurs and thus pose a threat.