BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Yellowhammer

YELLOWHAMMER
Emberiza citrinella

Conservation listings

Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: red (>50% population decline)

Long-term trend

UK, England: rapid decline

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

Yellowhammer abundance began to decline on farmland in the mid 1980s and the decline has continued ever since. The species, listed as Green in 1996, now qualifies for the red list. While there is some evidence that survival rates have decreased during the period of decline, Yellowhammer breeding performance has tended to improve (Siriwardena et al. 1998b, 2000b). However, recent declines in brood size and nest success are potentially of concern. Overall nest failure rates are relatively high, probably because later nests, which tend to be more successful (Kyrkos 1997), are under-represented in the NRS data set, but this is unlikely to affect overall trends. Reductions in winter seed food availability as a result of agricultural intensification (for example, the loss of winter stubbles and a reduction in weed densities) are widely believed to have contributed to the population decline.

Table of population changes for Yellowhammer

Source Period
(yrs) Years Plots
(n) Change
(%) Lower
limit Upper
limit Alert Comment

CBC/BBS UK 35 1967-2002 355 -54 -64 -42 >50

25 1977-2002 443 -53 -61 -45 >50

10 1992-2002 890 -26 -32 -20 >25

5 1997-2002 1140 -4 -8 0

CBC/BBS England 35 1967-2002 310 -54 -63 -43 >50

25 1977-2002 387 -55 -61 -48 >50

10 1992-2002 776 -27 -33 -21 >25

5 1997-2002 994 -5 -9 -2

BBS UK 9 1994-2003 992 -17 -21 -13

BBS England 9 1994-2003 861 -17 -21 -12

BBS Scotland 9 1994-2003 87 -13 -28 7

BBS Wales 9 1994-2003 37 -39 -56 -16 (>25)

Table of productivity information for Yellowhammer

Variable	Period (yrs)	Years	Mean annual sample	Trend	Predicted in first year	Predicted in last year	Change	Comment
Clutch size	34	1968-2002	43	None
Brood size	34	1968-2002	67	Curvilinear	2.96 chicks	3.09 chicks	0.13 chicks
Daily failure rate (eggs)	34	1968-2002	63	Curvilinear	0.0503 nests/day	0.0338 nests/day	-0.0165 nests/day
Daily failure rate (chicks)	34	1968-2002	51	Curvilinear	0.0459 nests/day	0.0337 nests/day	-0.0122 nests/day
Laying date	34	1968-2002	26	Linear increase	day 150	day 157	7 days	Small sample


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006