The Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) is the shining yellow voice of the farmland, the male almost glowing like a pat of butter from the top of a bush as he delivers his classic song. It is a fairly large, long-tailed bunting, 15-17 cm long, with a wingspan of about 23-29 cm and a weight of 24-36 grams. The male has a bright yellow head and underside, a rust-brown back, rust-coloured breast sides, and a warm rust-brown rump that shows clearly in flight; the female is paler and more streaked but shares the same rust-brown rump, a reliable mark in every plumage.
The song is unmistakable, a series of uniform, slightly accelerating notes ending in a longer, higher final note, "ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-tuuuh", traditionally rendered in Swedish as "a little bit of bread and no cheese". A male sings persistently from an exposed perch such as a bush top, fence or power line throughout summer, sometimes repeating the phrase hundreds of times in a day, and can still be heard well into high summer after most other birds have fallen silent; the call is a short, sharp "tsi". Yellowhammers nest on or near the ground, well hidden in a grass tussock, field margin or low bush and built from straw and root fibres; the female typically lays three to five eggs, finely scribbled with dark streaks, and pairs often raise two broods in a season. Outside the breeding season the diet is mostly seeds, grass seed and spilt grain gathered on the ground, while insects become important food for the chicks in summer; in winter, flocks gather on stubble fields and around farms, readily visiting bird feeders. Found across most of Sweden in open farmland, partly resident and partly a short-distance migrant, the species remains numerous but has declined enough to be classed as Near Threatened, a trend linked to intensified farming and the loss of field margins and stubble fields.
Read about this species in Swedish →