Yellowhammer
The Yellowhammer is a passerine bird in the bunting family. The bird family Emberizidae contains around 300 seed-eating species, the majority of which are found in the Americas, although the genus Emberiza, with more than 40 members, is confined to the Old World. Within its genus Emberiza, the Yellowhammer is most closely related to the Pine Bunting and at times they have been considered as one species. Where their ranges meet, the Yellowhammer and Pine Bunting interbreed and the hybrid zone is thought to be moving further east. The Yellowhammer is also closely related to the Cirl Bunting.
The Yellowhammer’s scientific name Emberiza citronella is derived from the Old German embritz meaning “bunting” and the Italian citronella meaning “small yellow bird”.
The Yellowhammer is a large bunting around 6.3 to 6.5 inches long with a wingspan of 9.1 to 11.6 inches. The male has a bright yellow head, heavily streaked brown back, rufous rump, yellow underparts and white outer tail feathers. The female is less brightly coloured and more streaked on the crown, breast and flanks. Both sexes are less strongly marked outside the breeding season when the dark fringes on new feathers obscure the yellow plumage. The juvenile is much duller and less yellow than the adults and often has a paler rump.
The Yellowhammer breeds across Eurasia and it is the commonest and most widespread European bunting although it is absent from high mountains, Arctic regions, most of Iberia and Greece and low-lying regions of other countries adjoining the Mediterranean Sea. It also breeds in Russia east to Irkutsk and in most of Ukraine and the Asian range extends into north west Turkey, the Caucasus and northern Kazakhstan. Populations have declined in recent decades in western Europe but in eastern Europe numbers appear to be stable. Changes to agricultural practices are thought to be responsible for reduced breeding densities.
The Yellowhammer can be found throughout most of the UK but it is least abundant in the north and west and absent from some upland areas such as the Pennines and the Scottish Highlands as well as some lowland areas. Its recent sharp population decline make it a Red List species.
Within its range, the Yellowhammer is a bird of dry open country, preferably with a range of vegetation types and some trees from which to sing. It is absent from urban areas, forests and wetlands. Probably originally found at forest edges and large clearings, it has benefited from traditional agriculture which created extensive open areas with hedges and clumps of trees.
The Yellowhammer usually starts breeding in late April or early May. The males establish territories along hedges or woodland fringes and sing from a tree or bush, often continuing well into July or August. The nest is built by the female on or near the ground and is typically well hidden in tussocks against a bank or low in a bush. It is constructed from nearby plant material such as leaves, dry grass and stalks and lined with fine grasses and sometimes animal hair. The clutch is usually 3 to 5 eggs and the female incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 days to hatching and broods the chicks until they fledge 11 to 13 days later. Both adults feed the chicks in the nest and 2 or 3 broods are raised each year.
The Yellowhammer forages mainly on the ground and its diet consists mainly of seeds. Grasses are also important, particularly cereals, and grain makes up a significant part of the food consumed in autumn and winter. Invertebrates are added to its diet during the breeding season, particularly as food for its growing chicks, and a wide range of species is taken including springtails, grasshoppers, flies, beetles, caterpillars, earthworms, spiders and snails. Outside of the breeding season, the Yellowhammer forages in flocks which can occasionally number hundreds of birds and often contain other buntings and finches.
The Yellowhammer is a conspicuous, vocal and formerly common country bird and it has attracted human interest. Yellowham Wood and Yellowham Hill, near Dorchester in the UK, both derive their names from the bird. Robbie Burns' poem "The Yellow, Yellow Yorlin'" gets its title from a Scottish name for the Yellowhammer. Enid Blyton helped to popularise the bird's song as "a little bit of bread and no cheese" in some of her books and she wrote a poem called "The Yellow-hammer". Beethoven's student, Carl Czerny, and biographer Anton Schindler, both suggested that the composer got the idea for the first 4 notes of his 5th symphony from the song of the Yellowhammer although it is more likely that the opening of the 4th Piano Concerto was actually the work in question. Beethoven also used the Yellowhammer theme in 2 piano sonatas.
Date: 2nd July 2023
Location: Great Ovens NNR, Wareham Forest, Dorset
The Yellowhammer’s scientific name Emberiza citronella is derived from the Old German embritz meaning “bunting” and the Italian citronella meaning “small yellow bird”.
The Yellowhammer is a large bunting around 6.3 to 6.5 inches long with a wingspan of 9.1 to 11.6 inches. The male has a bright yellow head, heavily streaked brown back, rufous rump, yellow underparts and white outer tail feathers. The female is less brightly coloured and more streaked on the crown, breast and flanks. Both sexes are less strongly marked outside the breeding season when the dark fringes on new feathers obscure the yellow plumage. The juvenile is much duller and less yellow than the adults and often has a paler rump.
The Yellowhammer breeds across Eurasia and it is the commonest and most widespread European bunting although it is absent from high mountains, Arctic regions, most of Iberia and Greece and low-lying regions of other countries adjoining the Mediterranean Sea. It also breeds in Russia east to Irkutsk and in most of Ukraine and the Asian range extends into north west Turkey, the Caucasus and northern Kazakhstan. Populations have declined in recent decades in western Europe but in eastern Europe numbers appear to be stable. Changes to agricultural practices are thought to be responsible for reduced breeding densities.
The Yellowhammer can be found throughout most of the UK but it is least abundant in the north and west and absent from some upland areas such as the Pennines and the Scottish Highlands as well as some lowland areas. Its recent sharp population decline make it a Red List species.
Within its range, the Yellowhammer is a bird of dry open country, preferably with a range of vegetation types and some trees from which to sing. It is absent from urban areas, forests and wetlands. Probably originally found at forest edges and large clearings, it has benefited from traditional agriculture which created extensive open areas with hedges and clumps of trees.
The Yellowhammer usually starts breeding in late April or early May. The males establish territories along hedges or woodland fringes and sing from a tree or bush, often continuing well into July or August. The nest is built by the female on or near the ground and is typically well hidden in tussocks against a bank or low in a bush. It is constructed from nearby plant material such as leaves, dry grass and stalks and lined with fine grasses and sometimes animal hair. The clutch is usually 3 to 5 eggs and the female incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 days to hatching and broods the chicks until they fledge 11 to 13 days later. Both adults feed the chicks in the nest and 2 or 3 broods are raised each year.
The Yellowhammer forages mainly on the ground and its diet consists mainly of seeds. Grasses are also important, particularly cereals, and grain makes up a significant part of the food consumed in autumn and winter. Invertebrates are added to its diet during the breeding season, particularly as food for its growing chicks, and a wide range of species is taken including springtails, grasshoppers, flies, beetles, caterpillars, earthworms, spiders and snails. Outside of the breeding season, the Yellowhammer forages in flocks which can occasionally number hundreds of birds and often contain other buntings and finches.
The Yellowhammer is a conspicuous, vocal and formerly common country bird and it has attracted human interest. Yellowham Wood and Yellowham Hill, near Dorchester in the UK, both derive their names from the bird. Robbie Burns' poem "The Yellow, Yellow Yorlin'" gets its title from a Scottish name for the Yellowhammer. Enid Blyton helped to popularise the bird's song as "a little bit of bread and no cheese" in some of her books and she wrote a poem called "The Yellow-hammer". Beethoven's student, Carl Czerny, and biographer Anton Schindler, both suggested that the composer got the idea for the first 4 notes of his 5th symphony from the song of the Yellowhammer although it is more likely that the opening of the 4th Piano Concerto was actually the work in question. Beethoven also used the Yellowhammer theme in 2 piano sonatas.
Date: 2nd July 2023
Location: Great Ovens NNR, Wareham Forest, Dorset
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Also in: Buntings
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