Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella

Features

The yellowhammer is Slovenia’s most common species from the group of bunting birds.

Species	Bird
Living space	Conifer forest, Deciduous forest, Meadow
Size	15,5 - 17 cm
Weight	24 - 30 g

Description

The male has a light-yellow head and lower part of the body, with a brown-red hue on the chest. Its back and wings have brown spots with black stripes. Its tail is chestnut-brown. The female and chicks are less yellow with darker heads and are less contrastingly coloured. It is a common species in the cultural landscape, in areas overgrown with bushes, along the edges of forests and clearings, where it searches for food on the ground. It also nests on the ground. It mostly feeds on seeds, and hunts insects during the period when it cares about its babies. It mostly spends winters in its breeding area. Only the specimens living in the far north (e.g. in Scandinavia) move to the south in winter. During that time, they form iflocks with similar species (for example, with the pine bunting and the common chaffinch). It is estimated that there are 30,000 to 50,000 couples living in Slovenia, and approximately the same number of them spend winters here. In winter, they can be spotted throughout the country, except in the highest mountainous regions.