Table of Contents 1.

The Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, is a songbird in the bunting family. In fact, it should be called the Yellow Bunting, but for some reason, we use the German word for bunting, “ammer”, which we have twisted to fit our English language so that it makes more sense to us.

Living up to the yellow in their name, these birds retain their sunshine yellow colouring almost year-round, save for a brief moulting period after the breeding season. The males are unmistakable with a bright yellow head, breast and underparts, rich chestnut streaks down the back and a reddish rump. Females are still yellow, but slightly duller with streaky markings. They are slightly larger than a House Sparrow, can often be seen perched in a hedgerow and exhibit a characteristically bouncy flight pattern.

Birds predominantly inhabit farmland with hedgerows but can also be found in countryside gardens bordering onto suitable habitat. They are renowned for their song, which is purported to as for “a little bit of bread and no cheese” and which they will continue to sing late into the summer when other birds are quieter while raising broods.

While the English heard a plea for cheese, the call of the Yellowhammer was interpreted in a more sinister way in Scotland, with the repetitive sing sounding to them like a curse asking “Devil, devil, devil, take you”. This was echoed in the Scottish and Northern English belief that the Yellowhammer drank a drop of the Devil’s blood every May Day morning!

An older name for these beautiful golden birds is the Scribble Lark, owing to their eggs, which are patterned with fine, dark lines which look as though made by a delicate pen and ink. Strangely, this marking was believed by some to be serpentine handwriting and in Welsh folklore, the bird was historically feared because it was believed to encourage Adders to enter its nest to eat its young.

Adders are indeed one of several potential predators of young birds, including rodents and corvids, since nests are made in thick vegetation on or near the ground. Eggs are incubated for 12-14 days and adults feed on seeds but supplement their diet with invertebrates during the breeding season. The young, meanwhile, are fed largely on invertebrates to begin with, but grains are also added after three days, and they fledge after around 13 days. They create family flocks to forage, especially in the winter months when large congregations can come together, sometimes joining with other species such as finches, buntings and sparrows. This enables them to find food and spot predators more effectively, particularly in harsh conditions. The average lifespan of a Yellowhammer is 3 years, but staggeringly, the oldest reported is 13!

Changes to farming practices, such as the removal of hedgerows, increasing use of pesticides and herbicides, and changes in land use resulting in less winter seed availability, have all had an impact on the Yellowhammer population in the UK. According to the BTO, this species has shown a 68% decrease in population since 1968 and a 23% contraction in the area of its distribution. Consequently, the Yellowhammer has been red listed since 2002.