Appearance
The ortolan is 16 cm in length and weighs 20–25 grams. In appearance and habits it much resembles its congener the yellowhammer, but lacks the bright colouring of that species; the ortolan's head, for instance, is greenish-grey, instead of a bright yellow. The song of the male ortolan resembles that of the yellowhammer.
Naming
The name ''ortolan'' is French, from the Latin ''hortulanus'', the gardener bird.
Distribution
A native of most European countries and western Asia, its distribution throughout its breeding range seems to be very local, and for this no obvious reason can be assigned. It reaches as far north as Scandinavia and beyond the Arctic Circle, frequenting cornfields and their neighbourhoods. It is an uncommon vagrant in spring, and particularly autumn, to the British Isles.Status
Ortolan hunting was banned in France in 1999, but the law was poorly enforced and it is thought that up to 50,000 ortolans were killed each year. According to France’s League for the Protection of Birds, France's ortolan population fell 30 per cent between 1997 and 2007. In 2007, the French government vowed to strictly enforce some existing rules about banning the practice, with the maximum fine set at €6,000 . Killing and cooking ortolans is banned across the EU. In 2007, the pressure from France's League for Protection of Birds and from the European Union resulted in the French government promising to enforce the EU directive protecting the ortolan.European Union member states prohibit:
⤷ deliberate killing or capture of these birds by any method;
⤷ deliberate destruction of, or damage to, their nests and eggs or removal of their nests;
⤷ taking their eggs in the wild and keeping these eggs;
⤷ deliberate disturbance of these birds particularly during the period of breeding and rearing, insofar as this would have a significant negative effect on the birds;
⤷ keeping birds, the hunting and capture of which is prohibited;
⤷ sale, transport for sale, keeping for sale and the offering for sale of live or dead birds and of any readily recognizable parts or derivatives of these birds.
Behavior
Ortolan nests are placed on or near the ground.Seeds are the natural diet, but beetles and other insects are taken when feeding their young.
Habitat
A native of most European countries and western Asia, its distribution throughout its breeding range seems to be very local, and for this no obvious reason can be assigned. It reaches as far north as Scandinavia and beyond the Arctic Circle, frequenting cornfields and their neighbourhoods. It is an uncommon vagrant in spring, and particularly autumn, to the British Isles.References:
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