Yellowhammer

The Yellowhammer is Alabama’s state bird. It was adopted as the state bird in 1927. The yellowhammer is a small, brown songbird with a bright yellow head and breast. They can be found throughout Alabama year-round. Yellowhammers are common birds and are not considered to be threatened or endangered.

The Yellowhammer is also known as the Northern Flicker.

APPEARANCE

The Yellowhammer is a medium-sized songbird with a long, narrow tail.

The color of the plumage is grayish brown with black highlights and yellow underwings. The yellowhammer is a woodpecker. Males and females look similar. Juveniles are paler than adults. His black mustache makes him easy to identify as a male.

HABITAT

The yellowhammer is migratory and breeds in trees in open areas across eastern North America, unlike most woodpeckers.

The yellowhammer beak is not as strong as other woodpeckers’, so it generally pecks out a nest in soft wood from dead or dying trees. It may also take up residence in an abandoned bird’s burrow or hole.

DIET

The yellowhammers eat insects including ants, flies, caterpillars, snails, berries, nuts and seeds. They feed mostly on the ground rather than digging into trees like other woodpeckers; nevertheless, they may prey on insects in midair.

Interesting Facts

The yellowhammer uses its long, barbed tongue to capture big quantities of ants.

The yellowhammer is also known to sit on an anthill and allow the ants to crawl over its wings. Ants’ acid may assist in the treatment of parasites, according to researchers.

Physical Features in Detail

The Yellowhammer is one of the more visually distinctive woodpeckers in North America, and a closer look at its plumage reveals a surprisingly intricate pattern. The back and wings are barred with bold black and brown markings that provide excellent camouflage against tree bark and woodland floor debris. The underparts are pale and dotted with round black spots, and the chest carries a prominent black crescent marking just below the throat. The rump is white and particularly conspicuous in flight, flashing clearly as the bird rises from the ground.

In the eastern subspecies, the undersides of the wings and tail feathers are a vivid yellow, giving the bird its common name and lending it a flash of warm colour that is unmistakable in good light. The face is a soft buff tone in females, while males carry the distinctive black moustachial stripe that sets them apart. The bill, though less powerful than many of its relatives, is still well formed and slightly curved, suited to probing soft soil and rotting wood.

Behaviour and Movement

Unlike the majority of woodpecker species, which spend most of their lives moving vertically up and down tree trunks in search of insects beneath bark, the Yellowhammer has adopted a notably different way of life. It is primarily a ground feeder, spending a considerable amount of time on open grassland, lawns, forest edges and roadsides, hopping along the surface in search of food. This terrestrial habit makes it one of the most visible and accessible woodpeckers for birdwatchers.

In flight the Yellowhammer moves with the characteristic deeply undulating pattern shared by most woodpeckers, alternating between bursts of wingbeats and brief glides with the wings tucked against the body. It is a strong flier and capable of covering considerable distances during migration. The call is loud and distinctive, a sharp repeated laughing sound that carries well across open ground and is one of the most recognisable bird calls of the eastern North American woodlands.

Breeding and Nesting

The Yellowhammer typically begins its breeding season in spring, with pairs forming and nest sites being selected from around April onward. The nest is excavated by both the male and female working together, usually in a dead or softened tree trunk where the wood has begun to decay and is easier to work through. The entrance hole is rounded and leads to a deeper chamber within the trunk where the eggs are laid directly on a bed of wood chips.

Clutch sizes generally range from five to eight eggs, which are white and unmarked. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs over a period of around eleven to thirteen days. Once hatched, the chicks are fed by both adults and develop quickly, leaving the nest after approximately four weeks. In many parts of their range, pairs will raise two broods in a single season if conditions are favourable.

The Yellowhammer and Alabama

The adoption of the Yellowhammer as Alabama’s state bird carries a historical dimension beyond simple natural history. The nickname dates back to the American Civil War, when Alabama soldiers were said to have worn yellow trimmed uniforms that prompted comparisons to the bird’s yellow colouring. The name became a term of pride associated with the state, and when an official state bird was eventually designated in 1927, the Yellowhammer was a natural and meaningful choice. Today it remains a well regarded symbol of Alabama’s natural heritage and is a familiar presence in gardens and open countryside across the state.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

• Kingdom: Animalia (animal)
• Phylum: Chordata (chordates)
• Class: Aves (birds)
• Order: Piciformes (woodpeckers, toucans, puffbirds and jacamars)
• Family: Picidae (woodpeckers, piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers)
• Subfamily: Picinae (woodpeckers, sapsuckers)
• Genus: Colaptes (woodpeckers)
• Species: Colaptes aurutus (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Subspecies: Colaptes aurutus aurutus (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Binomial Name: Colaptes aurutus

Sources & References

• Animal Diversity Web — Emberiza citrinella
• Wikipedia — Emberiza citrinella

Joanne Spencer (2026, April 15). Yellowhammer. Animal Corner. Retrieved 2026, October 10, from https://animalcorner.org/animals/yellowhammer/

Joanne Spencer. "Yellowhammer." Animal Corner, 2026, April 15, https://animalcorner.org/animals/yellowhammer/.