Callum Macgregor

Breeding distribution covers most of Europe except southernmost Mediterranean, and is restricted to mountains in the south of the range. Declining numbers because of agriculture intensification and climate change, though Least Concern on IUCN Red List. Short-distant or altitudinal migrant in southern part of range, truly migratory in northernmost part. Three subspecies: citrinella in most of Europe and south-east England, erythrogenys from eastern Balkans and Russia to Siberia, caliginosa in Ireland and Great Britain.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		39000000-54000000,45500000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Yellowhammer

Most populations are resident, or undergo local winter dispersal to lower altitudes or coastal farmlands. Some migration in a south-westward direction, e.g. from the North to Central Europe to the West of Europe, or from East to South-Central or South East Europe. Movements also attested by winter recoveries in e.g. Iberia and Mediterranean coast of France, where the species does not breed. Possible long-distance movements from Central Russia as suggested by regular Mediterranean wintering records of an Asian sister species in Europe (Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalos), though no ringing efforts in the extreme East of the range. Reported wintering site fidelity in migratory populations wintering in NE Spain (Herrando et al. 2011), also changes in the wintering grounds between different years and movements due to cold spells (Cramp & Perrins 1994). No evidence of sex- or age-specific dispersal strategies (Lehikoinen et al. 2017).

Recoveries by Condition for Yellowhammer

As for many passerines, recoveries are mostly birds retrapped alive (globally ~80%). This has increased as a result of increased ringing effort since the 2000s, especially in NW and N Europe. Half of the recoveries before 1961 were of dead birds, but this has fallen to ~3% in recent years.

Annual Movements for Yellowhammer

Most yellowhammers leave the northernmost part of the species range in October, and return in April. Records of breeders away from their region (North, East, …) are scattered from the first decade of October to the second decade of April. Movements from the West to Mediterranean wintering grounds seem to be more restricted in time, from late October to early March. The large ringing effort on in the North-West provide evidence that yellowhammers of ssp. caliginosa do not leave the British Isles.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Yellowhammer

Difficult to describe connectivity among months as most birds stay in their breeding region throughout the year, but some links can be described. In the North, movements within the region in October to move southwards, April to come back on breeding grounds, with very few recoveries elsewhere in Europe, despite an important ringing effort. Birds from Central Europe are present year-round in their region, but some recoveries in Mediterranean countries from mid-October to early March (Gyurácz et al. 2017). Less ring recoveries of caliginosa in Northern Scotland in mid-winter, but might be due to low ringing effort to recapture birds. Only two recoveries of British birds on the continent (in November and January), in countries with important winter ringing effort, so anecdotical.

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
2011 . Atles dels ocells de Catalunya a l’hivern 2006-2009. Institut Català d’Ornitologia (ICO)/Lynx edicions, Barcelona, SpainEditor(s): Herrando, S., Brotons, L., Estrada, J., Guallar, S. & Anton, M.
1994 . The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 9. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, New YorkEditor(s): Cramp, S., Perrins, C.
Gyurácz J., Bánhidi P., Góczán J., Illés P., Kalmár S., Koszorús P., Lukács Z., Németh C., Varga L2017 . Bird number dynamics during the post-breeding period at the Tömörd Bird Ringing Station, western Hungary. Ring 39: 23–82
Lehikoinen A, Santaharju J, Moller AP2017 . Sex-specific timing of autumn migration in birds: the role of sexual size dimorphism, migration distance and differences in breeding investment. Ornis Fennica 94: 53–65

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