Yellowhammer

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Yellowhammer in the UK

A widespread resident bunting, with about 700,000 territories in the UK. It is Red-listed. Numbers held steady until the mid 1980s, then fell sharply on farmland, and the breeding population dropped by 68% between 1967 and 2024. It was Green-listed in 1996 and has been on the Red List since 2002. Its range has shrunk by nearly a quarter, with losses mainly in the north and west and in pastoral areas. Loss of winter seed, especially weedy stubble, is the main cause. It is one of the species used to track the health of farmland birds.

Where and when to see a Yellowhammer

Look in arable and mixed farmland with thick hedges, scrubby field corners, young plantations and gorse on heath and coast. It is commonest in eastern England and eastern Scotland and scarce in the uplands, the far north-west and in towns. Males sing from hedge tops and wires from late February into August, later in the summer than most birds, and through the heat of the day. In winter flocks join finches and other buntings on stubble, game cover crops and around grain stores.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Hedged farmland.
Diet: Seeds, insects.
Field note: "A little bit of bread and no cheese".

How to identify a Yellowhammer

Slightly bigger and longer-tailed than a House Sparrow. The breeding male has a bright yellow head and underparts, a chestnut wash across the breast and a streaky brown back. Females and winter birds are duller and more streaked, with yellow limited to a wash on the face and belly. All ages show an unstreaked chestnut rump and white outer tail feathers, both obvious as a bird flies away. It often perches upright on the highest twig of a hedge, and feeds on the ground.

Call and song

The song is a fast run of short notes ending in one long wheeze, remembered as 'a little bit of bread and no cheese'. The final note is sometimes dropped. The call is a sharp 'tzik'. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Cirl Bunting: Cirl Bunting has an olive-grey rump, not chestnut, and the male has a black throat and eye-stripe. It is largely confined to south Devon and Cornwall.
• Western Yellow Wagtail: Yellow Wagtail is slim with a long wagging tail and thin bill, and feeds in open wet fields among livestock.
• Reed Bunting: A female Reed Bunting has no yellow, a bold pale moustache stripe and a dull brown rump.

Related guide Bird migration in Britain.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Yellowhammer is a Common tier bird, worth +1 point when you log one. It is Red-listed in Birds of Conservation Concern 5, the highest level of concern in the UK.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Cirl BuntingRare · Sunny mixed farmland
• Ortolan BuntingEpic · Open farmland
• Reed BuntingCommon · Reedbeds
• Corn BuntingUncommon · Cereal fields
• Black-faced BuntingLegendary · Coastal scrub (very rare vagrant)
• Black-headed BuntingEpic · Open scrub (vagrant)

Yellowhammer: quick answers

What habitat does Yellowhammer live in?

Open farmland with hedges, bushes or scrub for nesting and song posts, next to fields that supply seed. It avoids woods, towns and treeless ground. Nests are low in a hedge base or bank, often close to the ground.

What does a Yellowhammer eat?

Seeds for most of the year, mainly cereal grain and the seeds of grasses and arable weeds. Chicks are fed insects such as caterpillars, beetles and grasshoppers. Winter survival depends on spilt grain and weedy stubble.

Do Yellowhammers visit gardens?

Only gardens next to farmland, and mostly in late winter when field seed runs out. They feed on the ground, not on hanging feeders, and will take mixed seed or grain scattered below a hedge.

Kit that helps

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