CORN BUNTING WITH YELLOWHAMER SONG
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008 geschrieben von PatrickOn spring 2008 the ornithologist Reinhold Brennecke (Haldensleben, near Magdeburg, FRGermany)
told me about a Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra he watched for 3 years, which singing like
a Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella. At the Forum of “Verein Sächsischer Ornithlogen” (VSO) i read
a report about the same topic. On early summer i visit the described place and had the luck to see and
hear the bird. Actually it was a Corn Bunting (on Dick Forsman´s homepage i read 1 month ago about nearly
grey Yellowhammers!)
While our SINGWARTE camp in July 2008 Marcus Held and i went out to record the singer.
The bird sang 2 different kinds of songs. A nearly equal Yellowhammer and a mixed
Yellowhammer/Corn Bunting song. The mixed one starts with Corn Bunting like short single sounds,
followed by a Yellowhammer part (typical first part double sounds in Yellowhammer song). The song
of our Corn Bunting ends with the typical short Corn Bunting sounds.
Corn Bunting, typical song
Corn Bunting, atypical song – mixed one
Corn Bunting, atypical song – nearly equal to Yellowhammer
Yellowhammer, typical song
