yellowhammer

American  

[yel-oh-ham-er] / ˈyɛl oʊˌhæm ər /

noun

1. a common European bunting, Emberiza citrinella, the male of which is marked with bright yellow.

2. Chiefly Southern U.S. a flicker, Colaptes auratus, having yellow wing and tail linings.

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yellowhammer British  

/ ˈjɛləʊˌhæmə /

noun

1. a European bunting, Emberiza citrinella, having a yellowish head and body and brown streaked wings and tail

2. the yellow-shafted flicker, an American woodpecker See flicker 2

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Etymology

Origin of yellowhammer

1550–60; earlier also yelamber, yelambre, probably continuing Old English *geolu-amore, equivalent to geolu yellow + amore presumably, the bunting (cognate with Old Saxon amer, Old High German amaro; emberizine ); forms with -h- perhaps reflect blending with another etymon, later conformed to hammer (compare dial. yellowham )

Example Sentences

They provide habitat for red-listed farmland birds such as corn bunting, yellowhammer and linnet, as well as winter food for visiting species including fieldfares and redwings.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026

Evidence suggests songbirds can also learn variations in songs from one another and that these changes last across generations: One 2016 study found variations in yellowhammer bird songs were preserved for up to 100 years.

From Salon • Nov. 16, 2023

We saw a group of linnets, but those birds, he told me, travel in packs, and unfortunately the solitary yellowhammer stayed hidden beneath the gorse.

From Golf Digest • Oct. 16, 2013

He was speaking quietly, because he'd just heard the song of a yellowhammer bird that was hiding in a nearby patch of gorse -- a few short notes followed by a longer one.

From Golf Digest • Oct. 16, 2013

At last he saw the first of the dawn, like light faintly perceived round a corner at the far end of an unknown burrow; and in the same moment a yellowhammer sang.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams