...a
juvenile yellowhammer! I have never seen one of these birds in my
life before, let alone in my very own back yard! I was delighted to
find it stayed put long enough for me to catch a few photos... Well,
OK maybe more than 'a few'....
The
yellowhammer is from the finch family and its fancy name is Emberiza
citrenella. It is most familiar in countryside hedgerows - not exactly
back yards, according to one of my three bird guides.
The
adult plumage is a brighter yellow in the male and more striated in
the female, but the juvenile male usually resembles a sparrow with a
yellow head, which was the first thing I thought of when I spotted
the bird. They apparently nest from May through July - so for this to
be a young bird, they must have started early in 2016 - or changed
nesting season since the book was written back in the 1970's.
My
second bird identification book is from the 1980's and says May-June.
It therefore appears that the nesting season may have become shorter,
or started earlier in the 1975-1985 era.
Ah, Yellowhammer. I have heard of them. I wonder if they will become regular visitors or permanent residents.
ReplyDeleteWell i saw this juvenile twice... but then no more. It knows where there is food if it wants some though...
ReplyDelete