Yellowhammer / Goldammer (Emberiza citrinella)

Goldammer zwischen Vivazzo Fehraltorf und Illnau. 2024-04-26 14:44:44 Fehraltorf

Observations

First documented observation: 2020-05-26 in Hungerseeli. Most recent observation: 2025-06-12 in Wildert.

Description

Classification: Genus Buntings (Emberiza); Tribe Emberizini (Emberizini); Subfamily Emberizinae (Emberizinae); Family Fringillidae (Fringillidae)
General: Deutschland: Brut-, Jahres-, Zugvogel, Wintergast RL V
Personal notes: Habe ihn im Fehraltorfer-Wald endlich gesehen als er von einem Baum in die Spitze eines anderen geflogen ist.
Etymology: The English language Wikipedia page for bunting says: The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting.[6] The origin of the English "bunting" is unknown. I always though it makes little sense that these birds are Ammer in German and Hammer in English, though neither seems logical. Ammer is just a corruption of Embritz, and Hammer presumably a folk etymology - 'oh, this sounds a bit like hammer, let's call it that!'.
Etymology: Sie werden lautmalerisch mit tsr, zik oder zrk umschrieben. [Link]
Behavior: vogelwarte.ch says it prefers areas around agriculture: hedges, orchards, fields, meadows. Heard in the woods next to farmer's fields in Fehraltorf. (Weidholzweg, next farm is Tuschacher. The breast has a checkerd pattern apparently typical of buntings (Emberizidae), that to me resembles that of many thrushes - but this seems to be coincidence.

Seasonal behavior

Year-round bird
Breeding: 04-15 - 09-05
Migration in: 01-05 - 12-05
Migration out: 01-06 - 02-20
More details at Vogelwarte.ch

Other Details

Physical details

Physical details: length=16 cm, wingspan=23-29 cm, weight=25-36 g
Habitats: Agricultural

Vocalisation

Song: High-pitched, two notes that sound like one, repeated 10-12 times, with a higher tweet and then a whistle that sounds higher to me but usually shows up on the sonogram as the same range. The mnemonic for the staccato song in German is: «Wie, wie, wie, wie hab ich dich lieb». See the image for dialects noted by yellowhammers.net - the most common Swiss dialect is said to be XlB, though I don't always hear the second note myself (and interestingly enough, it doesn't play on my Bose headphones). Pavel Pipek of the yellowhammers project kindly explained to me: 'Regarding the XlB and other dialects, these codes were defined by a Danish scientist Poul Hansen in his paper from 1985. In this case Xl stands for a syllable with high frequency (and long) and B for a syllable with low frequency.'
Song: Kurzes Liedchen. „ Wie wie wie hab ich dich liiieb“ Das „Lieb“ ist meist etwas tiefer, kann aber auch höher sein oder doppelt, dabei das eine höher und das andere tiefer. Sehr variabel! [Link]
Song a series of 6-8 (or more) slightly ascending "tze" 's, rising in volume and ending on a sustained note, which may be lower or higher than the others. Often rendered as "little-bit-of-cheese-and-no-bread". Last note is often omitted, which may lead to confusion with Cirl Bunting. Timbre with prominent harmonics as in other bunting songs. [Link] Song attributes: Melody: simple rhythmic, fast, Frequency: 4-8 KHz Singing season: 03-01 - 09-30 Dawn chorus start: 45 minutes before dawn.
Calls: „zick“ „zeck“ [Link]
Distinct contact call: A short and brittle "zeet", rich in harmonics. [Link] No details but a Xeno-Canto recording.
Call recorded in UK, sounds typical to me, and spiced up by a yellowhammer in the background and several other birds

Call recorded in UK, sounds typical to me, and spiced up by a yellowhammer in the background and several other birds Callers: Willow warbler, Yellowhammer🐦
♫ Source: XENOCANTO XC444002 - Willow Warbler - Phylloscopus trochilus trochilus - call in UK, with yellowhammer in background.mp3 (call)


Call attributes: song Frequency: ,