The little bustard (Tetrax tetrax) is one of Europe's fastest-declining farmland birds. Spain holds the majority of the European population, but agricultural intensification — early mowing, herbicide use, and loss of fallows — has caused catastrophic breeding failure in recent decades.
Little bustard chicks are precocial but vulnerable, relying on dense vegetation cover for concealment from predators. Agricultural machinery kills thousands of chicks annually through direct collision or nest destruction. Herbicide use eliminates the insect-rich vegetation that chicks depend on for protein during their first weeks. Display males that return to traditional lek sites find them converted to intensive monocultures, disrupting breeding cycles. Conservation welfare interventions include agri-environment scheme payments for late-mowing, fallow creation, and lek site protection buffers.