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Grey partridge:

The decline in the grey partridge since the 1940s, both nationally and in Norfolk, reflects changes to farming systems. The increase in pesticide and herbicide use means fewer insects for young partridges and a smaller seed source as food for the adults. Loss of hedges and areas of rough cover has reduced available nesting habitat.

The grey partridge is a red-listed species (one of the birds of highest conservation concern) because of a more than 80% decline since the 1970s.

Yellowhammer:

Yellowhammers have declined by more than 50% nationally in the past 20 years with their populations described as ‘dropping like a stone’ during the 1990s (Mead 2000). This decline has been most severe in the west of England but even in Norfolk populations have crashed. The reasons for this rapid decline are not well understood. The removal of hedgerows and their over-zealous management destroy nest sites. The sowing of winter cereals and autumn ploughing of stubble mean a reduction in their winter food supply. Increased use of pesticides on crops in spring reduces the insect food required by nestlings. The efficiency of modern herbicides also means that even if stubbles are left they are ‘clean’ with few weeds present. Whatever the reasons, large flocks in winter are now a rarity and while yellowhammers are still found widely across Norfolk they are no longer common.

Linnet:

Linnet populations have declined nationally over recent years and although numbers now appear stable in Norfolk it is not now as common as it once was. This may be due to the increase in sowing winter crops rather than spring sown crops which reduces the amount of winter stubble fields and therefore the availability of their food source. Other factors could be the increased use of fertilisers and herbicides. Habitat destruction such as the grubbing up of heathland, the removal of hedgerows or severe hedgerow cutting restricts the available nesting habitat. The linnet is on the RSPB’s ‘red’ species list of conservation importance and is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Grey partridge

• The young leave the nest on hatching and develop rapidly. They are able to fly by 15 days old though do not reach adult size until about 15 weeks.
• In February pairs begin to form and males and females engage in courtship chases – running rapidly in circles looking almost like clock-work wind up toys!
• Most pairs will lay 12-15 eggs by April, although clutches of over 20 eggs have been recorded.
• Partridges are said on average to spend only three minutes a day in flight.
• A group of partridges is called a covey.

Yellowhammer

• Poet John Clare penned a poem about the yellowhammer:

Five eggs, pen scribbled o’er with ink their shells

Resembling writing scrolls which Fancy reads

As nature’s poesy and pastoral spells –

They are the yellowhammer’s and she dwells.

Most poet like, ‘mid brooks and flowery weeds.

• Traditionally yellowhammers in Breckland were known as gulers – a name thought to be derived from Gulden, a gold coin of Germany and the Netherlands.
• Another traditional names include scribbling lark derived from the irregular black lines which pattern its eggs.
• During winter, yellowhammers may find it hard to find food in their open habitats because of snow cover, so they will move to more inhabited areas like farmyards and even rural gardens.
• The birds largely forsake their immediate breeding habitat during autumn and winter, changing their diet to forage for seeds of wild flowers, cereals and grasses. They can form large flocks during this period to plunder a rich food source; historic gatherings of several hundred being quite widely encountered. Nowadays it is unusual to see such numbers, although in favoured spots in the north and west of the county sizeable flocks of over a hundred can sometimes be enjoyed.

Linnet

• They were once popular cage birds due to their melodious song.
•  Linnets are named after their favourite food: seeds. Their common name comes from linseed, which is the seed of flax, while their scientific name, L. cannabina, refers to hemp.
• During the winter months the UK linnet population is increased by passage migrants and winter visitors.
• Another name for linnets is gorse hatcher, due to its preference on nesting in prickly gorse bushes.
• During the Victorian period linnets were popular pets. Tennyson mentions “the linnet born within the cage” in part 27 of the poem In Memoriam A.H.H.