Around the World in Envelopes : Birds

Showing posts with label Birds. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Flightless birds of Australia

A First day Cover from Australia 🇦🇺 with stamps showing the flightless birds of the island continent !

Date of issue : 6-05-2019

Very few Australian bird species are truly flightless. The Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest of all penguin species and the only penguin to breed in mainland Australia and Tasmania. The Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and the Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) are the country’s largest birds.

The stamps

$1 - Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

The Emu, which is common throughout much of inland Australia, can reach up to two metres in height and is the second tallest bird in the world, after the Ostrich. The female Emu’s clutch of around eight to 10 dark-green eggs is incubated by the male, who doesn’t eat or drink for the eight weeks until they hatch. He also cares for and protects the striped grey and brown-black chicks for 18 months, until they can fend for themselves.

$1 - Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)

The only cassowary species found in Australia is the Southern Cassowary, distinguished by its vivid blue face and neck, long drooping red wattles hanging from the throat, and tall horn-like brown helmet or casque. The Southern Cassowary is found in tropical far north Queensland and is slightly shorter than the Emu but heavier, with females weighing up to 76 kilograms. Like the Emu, the male incubates the blue-green eggs, which usually number three to five. The striped dark brown and white chicks are also cared for by the male.

$2.30 - Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor)

The Little Penguin or Fairy Penguin, which reaches about 33 centimetres in height, is found around the coast of southern Australia. The Little Penguin spends most of its time foraging at sea, returning just after dusk to rocky burrows near the beach. The female lays two white eggs, incubated by both parents, who also rear the chicks together.

Thanks Irene for this wonderful FDC ! And also I was totally amazed at the way you had made the FDC itself a postage uprated with another stamp - for your bigger cover ;)

Friday, May 17, 2019

Birds of Uzbekistan

A registered cover from Tashkent , Uzbekistan 🇺🇿

The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species. Measuring 125 to 170 cm (49 to 67 in) in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange beak bordered with black. It is recognisable by its pronounced knob atop the beak, which is larger in males.

The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on its wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average 100–115 cm (39–45 in) from beak tip to end of tail, with a 155–215 cm (61–85 in) wingspan. The two subspecies, which differ slightly in size, breed in Europe (north to Finland), northwestern Africa, southwestern Asia (east to southern Kazakhstan) and southern Africa. The white stork is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa from tropical Sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as South Africa, or on the Indian subcontinent. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea and detours via the Levantin the east or the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, because the air thermals on which it depends for soaring do not form over water.

The common crane (Grus grus), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo). It is one of only four crane species not currently classified as threatened with extinction or conservation dependent on the species level. Despite the species' large numbers, local extinctions and extirpations have taken place in part of its range, and an ongoing reintroduction project is underway in the United Kingdom.

The rock dove is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, this bird is often simply referred to as the "pigeon". Habitats include various open and semi-open environments. Cliffs and rock ledges are used for roosting and breeding in the wild. Originally found wild in Europe, North Africa, and western Asia, pigeons have become established in cities around the world.

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Birds of Japan

A cover from Japan 🇯🇵 with a block of 4 stamps and an interesting Postal meter stamp label.

According to the International Postal Meter Stamp Catalog on wikibooks, this is #PO15 from the Matsushita Electric Company.

Vertical design with three bars over characters for Japanese Postage and "NIPPON" above boxed postage rate ( 30 yen in this case ) , town name (Kanazawa Daigaku byouin - Japanese above English), a water bird (Mandarin Duck) with wings spread over water, the characters "通用当日限り" ("Valid on issued date only"), year of the Emperor between five-pointed stars, and the date (DD.MM.YY) at bottom. Frame lines are at the sides of the frank above the dates and below the three bars. Printed on white and salmon-coloured papers.
This particular label on white, glossy paper, was posted in Kanazawa Daigaku byouin ( Kanazawa University Hospital ) , a national university of Japan in the city of Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture on March 22, 2019 (in the 31st year of the reign of the 125th Emperor Akihito).

10thAnniversary of the International Antarctica Treaty

Year of issue : 1971

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relationswith respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The treaty entered into force in 1961 and currently has 53 parties. The treaty sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation, and bans military activity on the continent. The treaty was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat headquarters has been located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Flag of the Antarctica Treaty

The treaty was a diplomatic expression of the operational and scientific co-operation that had been achieved "on the ice".

Thanks Dinh Duong Tung Anh for this beautiful cover :)

Reference : https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/International_Postage_Meter_Stamp_Catalog/Japan