Yellowhammer, Male, Emberiza citrinella

            'I'm just mad about saffron'. A bunting to brighten up a dull Monday morning 😊 This beautiful brightly coloured male Yellowhammer or Yellow Bunting as it was sometimes called in the books I used to ponder over when I was a young boy, perched for me just long enough for me to get a shot off! … a little bit of bread and no cheeeezze.

Farmland habitat changes...
Many granivorous farmland birds in the UK have declined substantially since the 1970s, coinciding with widespread agricultural intensification. The population trend of the Yellowhammer is, however, unique, since after a long period of stability it started to decline in the late 1980s. This study quantifies Yellowhammer habitat associations on British farmland before and during the decline (1988 and 1993), using Common Birds Census (CBC) data from the British Trust for Ornithology. In both years, variation in Yellowhammer densities between farmland CBC plots was strongly correlated with three main habitat parameters. Yellowhammer density increased with the proportion of the plot area growing cereals, and with crop diversity and hedgerow length, and was highest at intermediate altitudes. Farms dominated by grass and non-cereal crops, and those lacking cereals were most likely to lose territories between 1988 and 1993. These results suggest that there may be a critical availability of cereal cultivation below which Yellowhammer populations cannot persist, which may explain the recent pattern of range contraction in the pastoral north and west of the British Isles. They do not, however, explain the recent population decline recorded by the CBC in southern and eastern Britain, where cereal cultivation is predominant. This decline is probably not a direct consequence of summer land-use change, and requires further investigation...Farmland habitat change and abundance of Yellowhammers Emberiza citrinella: an analysis of Common Birds Census data
A. Kyrkos,J.D. Wilson & R.J. Fuller

Many thanks for visiting my Flickr pages ...Your visits, interest, comments and kindness to 'fave' my photos is very much appreciated, Steve.

Yellowhammer Notes and Information:

The Yellowhammer is another member of the Bunting Family. It is most often found in agricultural and wooded areas. Males are unmistakable as they are bright yellow, females and young birds are like a ‘ghost’ of the male.

The song of the Yellowhammer will attract your attention and help identify the bird as it is well known and very easy to learn.

Identification:

Adult:
Adult males and females have different plumage.
Yellowhammers are medium sized Buntings and measure in at about 16cm.

Male
Tail is longish, dark brown with white outer tail feathers, rump is brick red, back is heavily streaked and fairly pale, buffy with some dark chestnut with straw coloured streaking.

Wings are chestnut with darker centres to the feathers.
The upper side of the bird shows a yellowish buff wash.
The most obvious feature of the Yellowhammer is the bright lemon yellow head, breast and underparts.

The head shows a darker surround to the ear coverts and some dark crown streaking.
The breast has an orange wash and dark streaking down the flanks.

Bill is grey, legs brown eyes dark.

Female
Female Yellowhammers lack all the yellow head of the male and instead show an olive head with varying amounts of yellow around the face and chin.

It also shows a yellow ear spot.

Overall the birds shows less of a yellow tone and appears darker and moor olive in tone, it is also more streaked on the breast and flanks.

Bill black, legs dark and eye black.

Juvenile
Juveniles appear from late April onwards and look very similar to adult females, head pattern not as dark and generally browner, shows pale ear spot.

Status and Distribution

The Yellowhammer is a common breeding resident in the UK with 700,000 pairs. It occurs in all counties throughout the UK.

In winter numbers increase as migrants come to the UK from Continental Europe to escape their cold winters, migrants start to arrive in October to winter in our less severe climate.

Habitat/Food
Yellowhammers tend to feed on the ground, they occur in farmland type habitat throughout the UK also woodlands, open areas such as wooded pastures. If you can coax them into the garden they will happily take Seed Mixes from the ground or Bird Table.

Song/Call
Song; The song is well known....’ A little bit of bread and no cheese’ delivered in a high buzzy tone…..’chi chi chi chi chi chi chi chi cheezze’ . The cheese note is lower in tone than all other notes..

Taken on: April 9, 2022

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