Joel Hendon

The Beautiful Little Yellowhammer Songbird...One Of God’s Special Creations


Posted: Monday, February 14, 2011

by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html

An article in the Czech radio.cz caught my eye as I was researching an entirely different subject. The reason it did, was that the Czech Ornithological Society had voted the beautiful little “baby chick sized” bunting, the Yellowhammer, the Bird Of The Year.

The Alabama legislature passed a bill which was signed by the then Governor, Bibb Graves in 1927, naming the Yellowhammer as the official bird of the state. This was also part of the reason that the article attracted my attention. However, the birds are different. The Yellowhammer of Alabama is a woodpecker whose official name is Northern Flicker. Not as attractive as is the bunting and not recognized as a songbird. I also found their opening paragraph interestingly written:

The sparrow sized bunting is with us all year round –but its numbers are dwindling. With a bright yellow head and belly it is hard to miss –and moreover makes itself heard with a song that is known as “a little bit of bread and no cheese” in English and “jak to sluní c ko p e kn e svítí” in Czech meaning “see how brightly the sun shines”. Ornithologists also claim they discern two dialects in the yellowhammer’s call. (The yellowhammer voted Bird of the Year-Daniela Lazarová: February 10, 2011 radio.cz)

The bunting, found mostly in Europe, is a favorite bird to many people. In comparison, the Alabama state bird is not often seen since it’s primary habitat is the woodlands. The bunting has a perky little song that somehow suits it’s appearance. Notice the photograph taken from Wikipedia with their permission

The quotation above indicates that the population of these are dwindling although they are not on the endangered list. The article I also read concerning the Northern Flicker (yellowhammer woodpecker) says the same identical thing. I suspect the majority of bird species are in the same situation and it is probably caused by their dwindling habitat space. As we expand our residential and commercial boundaries, it continues to encroach upon their habitat.

For your enjoyment, I have secured some links to short videos of the bunting. You should enjoy them. I assuredly did.

Here is one bathing in a stream...and I do mean bathing: Click Here

This one sings their little ditty a couple of times: Click Here

Here she is incubating her eggs (Short video): Click Here

The adults here feed the young and remove the fecal sacs: Click Here
Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He has an extensive website of conservative religious and political articles.http://hebronics.org/index.html

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