Yellowhammer
Emberiza citrinella
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Distribution Britain 2,224 (-8.6%) Ireland 587 (-37.4%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 1,200,000 — Ireland 200,000 European status: 19,000,000 (7% in Britain and Ireland =5) British population trend: recent severe declines (-60% CBC){-43%} How likely are you to record it? 2,225 squares (49.5%) Ranked 22 [31] |
At the end of the 19th century Yellowhammers bred commonly throughout mainland Britain and Ireland, in some numbers on Orkney and sporadically on the Outer Hebrides but not on Shetland. They have always been rather uncommon in areas devoid of cover. In Ireland they had begun to withdraw from the west and north by about 1940 but there were few gaps in the first Breeding Atlas. Just 20 years later, with the second Atlas, there were huge losses (over 37% of 10-km squares lost) with great swathes of the country missing out on these once common birds. In Scotland breeding ceased on Orkney and in the Western Isles 30 years ago and the birds have been lost from many west coast and upland 10-km squares, as well as upland areas in North-west England and in Wales. Until the late 1980s the CBC index for Yellowhammer seemed very stable but, in the last ten years, it has dropped like a stone — by about 60% overall. The five-year BBS (1994-98) also went down by 16%. Another species in dire straits and still falling: out of control?
The following Bird On! pictures are available:
Yellowhammer (Watercolour by Robert Gillmor)
The following Bird On! sketch is available:
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead