The Little Bustard lives in dry grassland and pasture. During the breeding season, a male courts a female with stamping and leaps.
In breeding plumage, the male has a black neck with a white V-shaped mark and collar. The female has a brown back, a pale underside, and lacks the male's neck pattern.
Portugal's Little Bustard population declined substantially between national surveys in 2003–2006 and 2016. Silva and colleagues assessed 51 areas: 21 were within 12 Special Protection Areas for farmland birds, while 30 were outside EU protection. The estimated national number of males fell from 17,418 to 8,900 over that period.
The proportional decline was about 64% outside protected areas and 25% inside them. In areas surveyed during both periods, however, the absolute decline in male density was larger inside the protected areas. Those areas still held important populations and grassland, while the national comparison showed that their designation alone did not stop the decline.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Portugal's estimated male population fell about 49% from 2003–2006 to 2016. The proportional decline was about 64% outside and 25% inside Special Protection Areas, while the absolute male-density decline in matched areas was larger inside them.