Yellowhammer Bird: Identification, Habitat, and Feeding Tips

The Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) is a passerine bird and is part of the bunting family. The bright yellow plumage of the adult male Yellowhammer - along with his reddish-brown upperparts and white outer tail feathers - easily distinguish him from all other buntings and finches.

The female is more sombre in appearance; being duller on the back and buffish with brown flecking on the breast.

They have a varied diet which consists of seeds, grains, insects, spiders and small fruits - especially blackberries. They forage for food mainly on the ground and one way of attracting them into your garden is by providing a good seed mix in a ground feeder.

Haith's Original Wild Bird Food is a good all-round mix that contains a great variety of high-quality seeds and is outstanding for value for money. It is also very attractive to this species, especially when spread on the ground during hard weather. We also have a great selection of soft foods mixes such as our Prosecto Insectivorous and Golden Chorus these are full of wholesome goodness which the birds will love and easily take.

Across much of the UK, they are birds of the open countryside - making them a familiar farmland species. They are often associated with hedgerows, bushes and wooded areas where they can be spotted quite easily on posts or tree stumps singing its well-known, high-pitched song: a "little bit of bread and no cheese". It's one of the finest sights and sounds of birds chirruping in the British countryside.

I’m afraid this yellow bird has declined over the last few decades and it finds itself besieged from all sides with the changes in farming practices and habitat loss which threatens this iconic farmland bird. We can, however, help stabilise the population of these birds by welcoming them to our gardens and keeping our feeders, bird tables and ground feeders stocked up especially during the winter season, with good clean high-energy nibbles.

As these birds continue to struggle throughout the country, we all need to work together to help them until a better solution is made available. This is becoming an all too common a tale.

Written by Tina Jakes