P6213596-Enhanced -e1
Adult male Yellowhammer - Emberiza citrinella
This bird also took a prolonged time to capture this afternoon.
Twice the size of the Siskins but largely the same colour scheme.
This conspicuous yellow bird has inspired poems by Robert Burns and John Clare, and its characteristic song has influenced musical works by Beethoven and Messiaen. Children's writer Enid Blyton helped to popularise the standard English representation of the song.
The yellowhammer was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under its current scientific name. Emberiza is derived from the Old German Embritz, a bunting, and citrinella is the Italian for a small yellow bird. The English name is thought to have come from Ammer, another German word for a bunting, and was first recorded in 1553 as yelambre.
Most European yellowhammers winter within their breeding range, only the far north being vacated, although some birds move south of their breeding range in Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries. Distances travelled can be up to 500 km (310 mi) for northern birds. Our Yellowhammers do not over winter here.
P6213596-Enhanced -e1
Adult male Yellowhammer - Emberiza citrinella
This bird also took a prolonged time to capture this afternoon.
Twice the size of the Siskins but largely the same colour scheme.
This conspicuous yellow bird has inspired poems by Robert Burns and John Clare, and its characteristic song has influenced musical works by Beethoven and Messiaen. Children's writer Enid Blyton helped to popularise the standard English representation of the song.
The yellowhammer was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under its current scientific name. Emberiza is derived from the Old German Embritz, a bunting, and citrinella is the Italian for a small yellow bird. The English name is thought to have come from Ammer, another German word for a bunting, and was first recorded in 1553 as yelambre.
Most European yellowhammers winter within their breeding range, only the far north being vacated, although some birds move south of their breeding range in Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries. Distances travelled can be up to 500 km (310 mi) for northern birds. Our Yellowhammers do not over winter here.