This species is uncommon. It inhabits dry grasslands and cultivated lands in semi-arid areas rich with insects. It has two breeding populations, the Eastern population (from Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan) and the Western population (from Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Morocco). This species migrates to Azerbaijan, Iran, and other southeast Asian countries for wintering (BirdLife International 2018).

This species is listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (https://www.iucnredlist.org/)

According to the IUCN Red List assessment, the population of this species is declining, the population of this species was lastly recorded to be approximately 240,000 mature individuals. The threat to its persistence comes from habitat disturbance and less food availability due to agriculture and pesticides (BirdLife International 2018).