BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Yellowhammer

YELLOWHAMMER
Emberiza citrinella

• Population
changes

• Productivity
trends

• Additional
information

Conservation listings

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

Long-term trend

UK, England: rapid decline

UK population size

792,000 territories in 2000 (1988–91 Atlas estimate updated using CBC/BBS trend: BiE04, APEP06)

Status summary

Yellowhammer abundance began to decline on farmland in the mid 1980s and, except in Scotland, 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. The local availability of winter setaside is a good predictor of sites chosen for breeding territories the next year (Whittingham et al. 2005). Numbers have fallen widely in Europe since 1980 (PECBM 2006).

Population changes

Table of population changes for Yellowhammer

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert	Comment
CBC/BBS UK	38	1967-2005	416	-55	-62	-46	>50
	25	1980-2005	556	-53	-58	-48	>50
	10	1995-2005	1111	-15	-19	-10
	5	2000-2005	1079	-5	-9	-1
CBC/BBS England	38	1967-2005	363	-56	-65	-45	>50
	25	1980-2005	486	-56	-63	-49	>50
	10	1995-2005	970	-17	-20	-13
	5	2000-2005	945	-7	-10	-4
CES adults	21	1984-2005	18	-69	-90	-23	>50	Small sample
	10	1995-2005	14	-44	-82	24		Small sample
	5	2000-2005	10	-15	-62	60		Small sample
CES juveniles	21	1984-2005	10	-90	-98	-71	>50	Small sample
BBS UK	10	1995-2005	1054	-13	-19	-8
	5	2000-2005	1065	-5	-8	-2
BBS England	10	1995-2005	918	-16	-20	-12
	5	2000-2005	933	-7	-10	-3
BBS Scotland	10	1995-2005	91	0	-17	18
	5	2000-2005	89	1	-9	11
BBS Wales	10	1995-2005	37	-37	-53	-20	>25
	5	2000-2005	37	-11	-30	7

Productivity trends

Table of productivity changes for Yellowhammer

Variable	Period (yrs)	Years	Mean annual sample	Trend	Modelled in first year	Modelled in 2005	Change	Comment
Clutch size	37	1968-2005	44	Curvilinear	3.35 eggs	3.41 eggs	1.9%
Brood size	37	1968-2005	67	Curvilinear	2.96 chicks	3.05 chicks	3%
Daily failure rate (eggs)	37	1968-2005	66	Curvilinear	5.01% nests/day	3.74% nests/day	-25.3%
Daily failure rate (chicks)	37	1968-2005	51	Curvilinear	4.63% nests/day	4.11% nests/day	-11.2%
Laying date	37	1968-2005	27	Linear increase	May 30	Jun 7	8 days	Small sample
Juvenile to Adult ratio (CES)	21	1984-2005	20	Smoothed trend	95 Index value	100 Index value	5%
Juvenile to Adult ratio (CES)	10	1995-2005	16	Smoothed trend	143 Index value	100 Index value	-30%	Small sample
Juvenile to Adult ratio (CES)	5	2000-2005	12	Smoothed trend	103 Index value	100 Index value	-2%	Small sample

Additional information


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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., Barimore, C., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. & Thewlis, R.M. (2007) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2007. BTO Research Report No. 487. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 3 January, 2008