Yellowhammer

Yellowhammers are insect and seed eating birds. Weedy stubble fields following harvests of corn and wheat, which supply an abundance of their winter sustenance, have been replaced by pasture.

In sunshine, they often stand out being bright canary yellow, but the same yellow can be quite a good camouflage against young green foliage.

Yellowhammers are fairly widespread throughout Wales, with the Dyfi Valley, Mawddach valley, Lleyn Peninsular, Pembrokeshire, Gower and Denbighshire all being key areas.

If you wish to attract them to your garden, the RSPB suggests you try mixed or table seed containing a high proportion of cereals such as barley, wheat and oats, mixed with sunflower seed and millet.

But, yellowhammers won't feed from a bird table or hanging feeder, so spread the seed on the ground, somewhere with a hedge, shrub or tree nearby as they don't like feeding in the open.

The yellowhammer is called Melyn yr Eithin in Welsh - yellow bird of the gorse.