Yellowhammer

Above and below: Yellowhammers.

Yellowhammers are resident in the UK all year round. They are very much birds of arable farm land, especially where hedgerows provide plenty of cover, food and nest sites. They are fond of perching on the top of bushes or on telephone wires so should be easy to spot.

Both the male and the female have a brown, buff and black streaked back with the rump being a rich rusty red colour. The tail is black with white edges. The male has a bright yellow head with black or dark brown stripes across the crown, cheeks and behind the eye. He also has a yellow breast heavily streaked with rusty brown. The yellow extends all the way to the vent, as does the streaking, although this is specifically on the flanks. Sometimes the streaking is so extensive that the breast and belly look rusty brown rather than yellow but sometimes the streaking is so light that the breast and belly look vivid yellow. The female has similar markings on the head and breast but these are much more subdued than in the males. The beak is metallic grey and the legs are a buff pink.

As they are farm land birds any reasonable farm land may well produce good results when searching for these birds. However, they are more likely to be found on arable farm land rather than land kept purely for grazing livestock. I've come across them on farm land near Parkgate on the Wirral (Cheshire), along the A50 near High Legh (Cheshire), along Pavement Lane in Mobberly (Cheshire) and, my favourite place for these birds, the farm land of Carrington Moss (Greater Manchester). There are plenty of sightings on farm land throughout the North West right up to Cumbria and beyond. Not sure that they are so common in North Wales but if you know of good sites for these birds be sure to let me know. I believe there are some to be found in the areas around Point Lynas and the Penmon Peninsula on Anglesey. At Carrington, the best locations are the path from the Manchester United training ground to Birch Moss farm and the point where the paths cross by No 1 field.

I have not found these birds in general easy to approach. Occasionally I've come across a bold individual that has allowed me to approach to within a fairly close range but in general they fly off long before I'm close enough for a picture. The best technique I have found, is find a location where the birds are present in some numbers, find a suitable spot (with a little cover if you can find it), keep fairly still and wait for them to come to you. With patience you may well get them coming within range for a photograph.