Yellowhammer
Latin name: Emberiza citrinella
Length: 16.5cm
Where: Farmland and gardens
When: All year round; often come to garden feeders in hard weather
Yellowhammers are our sunniest birds. The male’s plumage is almost the lemon-skin yellow of the gorse where they often perch – perhaps for the camouflage it provides. They are birds of arable fields and fence lines, feeding almost exclusively on grass seeds and grains. Sadly, changes in farming practices mean that they are not the common sight they once were.
In autumn and winter you still sometimes see flocks of them milling around field gates, pecking at the spilt grain from the combine harvesters. In spring and summer they leave their flocks to find a mate and pair up. It’s then that the males take to the fence wires to mark out their territories with their unmistakeable song –‘a-little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheeeeeese.’
Find out more at:
