Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella
Breeding distribution change
Decreasing resident, though still quite widespread on arable farmland
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013
Atlas species lists
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More Yellowhammer maps
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More maps for this atlas
Map explanation
This map shows where changes occurred in the breeding season distribution of the species in Wiltshire between 1995-2000 and 2007-2012, as revealed by the fieldwork for Birds of Wiltshire (Wiltshire Ornithological Society 2007) and the shared fieldwork for Bird Atlas 2007-2011 (BTO 2013) and for Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2007-2012.
Gains and improvements
Status
Nos tetrads
Absent to present
41
4%
Present to breeding
92
10%
Absent to breeding
14
2%
No change
Status
Nos tetrads
Present in both
72
8%
Breeding in both
326
36%
Losses and declines
Status
Nos tetrads
Present to absent
54
6%
Breeding to present
184
20%
Breeding to absent
64
7%
Yellowhammers are resident or partially migratory in all of Europe except the extreme north and south, and in west and central Siberia.
In Britain Yellowhammers are sedentary and mostly confined to lowland areas throughout. There is little difference beween their winter and breeding season distributions. Their range has contracted, by 21% in summer between the 1968-72 Breeding Atlas and Bird Atlas 2007-11 and by 9% in winter between the 1981-84 Winter Atlas and Bird Atlas 2007-11. The losses have mainly occurred on the fringes of upland areas, and have been accompanied by even greater reductions in population numbers, which declined by 55% between 1970 and 2010. A number of factors are believed to have contributed to the declines, mostly related to changes in agricultural practices such as the move to autumn sowing of cereals leading to loss of winter stubble.
In Wiltshire Yellowhammers were very common in the 19th and through most of the 20th centuries. There was a period in the 1980s and 1990s when decreases were recorded in some areas, but overall numbers have since remained stable. Birds of Wiltshire recorded them in 792 tetrads, with breeding in 574; WTA2 recorded them in 729 tetrads with breeding in 432.
References
The following references are used throughout these species accounts, in the abbreviated form given in quotation marks:
“1968-72 Breeding Atlas” – Sharrack, J.T.R. 1976: The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1981-84 Winter Atlas” – Lack, P.C. 1986: The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1988-91 Breeding Atlas” – Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993: The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91. T. & A. Poyser
“Birds of Wiltshire” – Ferguson-Lees, I.J. et al. 2007 : Birds of Wiltshire, published by the tetrad atlas group of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society after mapping fieldwork 1995-2000. Wiltshire Ornithological Society.
“Bird Atlas 2007-2011” – Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. 2013: Bird Atlas 2007-2011: the Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland
“WTA2” – ("Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2 ") the present electronic publication, bringing together the Wiltshire data from “Birds of Wiltshire” and “Bird Atlas 2007-11”, together with data from further fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2012.
"Hobby" - the annual bird report of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society.