Take part in Cumbria Bird Club’s 2024 Cumbrian Yellowhammer mapping survey. If you spot (or have seen or heard) a Yellowhammer, please record it here:
The Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) is resident in the UK and has been recorded across Cumbria but their numbers are generally declining across the country: they are a red-listed species which means they are considered to be ‘at risk’. As the name suggests, there are elements of yellow in the Yellowhammer plumage, especially the male Yellowhammer which have an almost entirely yellow head in summer and lots of yellow markings on their chest. The female is much less yellow. In summer, they can often be identified by their song which is described as sounding like ‘little bit of bread and NOOOO cheese’, with birds singing from the top of hedges and bushes in farmland or scrubby habitats. For more information and to hear the Yellowhammer song, please visit the RSPB website
Please do report any sightings or singing birds at the survey link above. You might want to download the Merlin app or similar app to help you identify any photographs or song.
Tetrad Surveyors Urgently Needed
If you would like to get more involved, particularly if you are confident of your bird identification skills, Cumbria Bird Club are looking for tetrad surveyors who are willing to regularly survey assigned tetrads for Yellowhammer. They are particularly keen to recruit surveyors in the following areas:
- Haweswater/Bampton/Gt. Strickland/Melkinthorpe
- Gt. Asby/Appleby/Kirby Thore
- Greystoke/Plumpton
- Dalston to Wigton and Kirkbride
If you would be interested in taking on a tetrad or would like to find out what would be involved, please contact Rebecca at CBDC to be put in touch with Cumbria Bird Club.
Particular tetrads are listed below: you can search for the tetrad locations using the BSBI database grid reference finder. Simply copy and paste the tetrad reference (e.g. NY51B) into the search box on the BSBI page.
- Haweswater/Bampton/Gt. Strickland/Melkinthorpe: NY41Q, NY51B, NY51J, NY52K and NY52S.
- Gt. Asby/Appleby/Kirby Thore: NY61X, NY62Q and NY62N.
- Greystoke/Plumpton: NY43K, NY43X, NY43T and NY53D.
- Dalston area: NY35W, NY34Z, NY34N and NY34C.
- Wigton/Kirkbride: NY25I, NY25U, NY25X and NY35G.