Skylark hunting in France

The chasse à l’alouette is a traditional form of hunting in France, particularly associated with the Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis), known in French as the alouette des champs.

There are two main methods.

• Hunting with firearms, including shooting skylarks during the autumn migration.

• Traditional trapping methods, notably the use of pantes (large ground nets) and, historically, other capture devices in parts of south-western France.

This is controversial in many ways because skylarks are migratory birds whose populations face pressures from agricultural intensification, habitat change, and hunting, and are of concern to other countries where skylark populations are declining more rapidly than in France. 

The hunting of Skylarks is always being contested by the LPO and other environmental and wildlife protection structures, and the latest court decisions make the situation particularly concerning. 

• 2022: The Conseil d’État suspended authorisations for traditional net and cage trapping, citing serious doubts about compliance with EU bird-protection law.

  September 2025: The court suspended the 2025–2026 quota of 98,702 skylarks for capture using pantes [nets].

• October 2026: In a subsequent ruling, the Conseil d’État rejected challenges to the 2025 authorisations and quota, finding that the arrangements met the relevant legal criteria. This later judgment concerns the 2025–2026 season, not automatically the current season.

• The current situation seems likely to be approval for the 2026- 2027 season, where this can continue with limitations on overall and individual numbers that can be killed.

This will be contested at the European level by the LPO 

The traditional net-trapping method is associated with four departments: Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The regulatory framework specifies a season running from 1 October to 20 November. 

In south-western France, the traditional method known as chasse aux pantes uses pairs of horizontal nets. Matoles are a different, cage-like trapping device.

These methods have historically been concentrated in Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Unlike firearm hunting, trapping under this system has been subject to annual numerical quotas and declarations of catches.

The French National Office for Hunting and Wildlife (ONCFS, now part of the OFB) published the following figures for declared catches:

Hunting season	Skylarks caught
2005–2006	493,136
2006–2007	505,288
2007–2008	450,733
2008–2009	516,707
2009–2010	347,059
2010–2011	234,881
2011–2012	293,389
2012–2013	249,826
2013–2014	287,925

Source: ONCFS research article, published in Faune sauvage, 2017. These are declared catches for traditional trapping, not firearm kills.

The trend is clear despite year-to-year fluctuations: declared catches fell substantially after 2008. The research paper reported that annual trapping catches had exceeded 450,000 before 2009, but remained below 300,000 in every year from 2010 through 2013.

As of 16 October 2026, the government is consulting on a new quota for traditional net trapping. The proposed limits are:

Department	Proposed maximum
Gironde	38,600
Landes	56,672
Lot-et-Garonne	1,230
Pyrénées-Atlantiques	2,200
Total	98,702

These figures come from the government's current draft order, published for public consultation from 9 to 29 October 2026. They are proposed limits, not a confirmed final quota or the number of birds actually caught.

The hunting statistics sit alongside a longer-term population decline. The LPO, citing the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme, reported that European skylark populations declined by 58% between 1980 and 2024. Its account of French monitoring reported a 32% decline in breeding populations between 2001 and 2025

Although hunting may not be the main reason for their decline, agriculture plays a far greater role in this; it still needs to be seen as an additional and unnecessary burden to satisfy what is supposed to be a culinary delight. 

Chris