Eurasian Nutcracker

Nutcracker (星鴉)
Switzerland (2014)
4th September, 2014. Goldau

Eurasian Nutcracker is a passerine bird slightly larger than the Eurasian jay. It has a much larger bill and a slimmer looking head without any crest. The feathering over its body is predominantly a chocolate brown with distinct white spots and streaks. The wings and upper tail are virtually black with a greenish-blue gloss. It is one of three species of nutcracker. The Large-spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga multipunctata), was formerly considered a subspecies. The other, Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), occurs in western North America.

It is a dark brown, broad-winged, short-tailed corvid. Body plumage is mid to dark chocolate brown, heavily spotted with white on face, neck, mantle and underparts. It has a large white loral spot, a white eye-ring, blackish brown cap extending onto the nape, dark blackish wings with a greenish-blue gloss, all white vent, and dark tail with white corners above and a white terminal band on the undertail. In flight, broad wings, white vent and short tail are noticeable; the flight undulating. The black bill is slender and rather long, sharply pointed, and varies in size amongst races. The iris, legs and feet are black.

Nutcracker (星鴉)
Switzerland (2014)
4th September, 2014. Bern

Nutcracker (星鴉)
Switzerland (2014)
4th September, 2014. Goldau

Biodiversity SOAR of Ireland (2014)

Mute Swan (疣鼻天鵝)
Ireland (2014)
31st July, 2014. Dublin

As last few years, Ireland An Post continues to issue Biodiversity definitive SOAR this year and it is the fifth series of 2014, eight labels issued cover variety family as well as before. The two birds chose as Mute Swan and Winter Wren.

Mute Swan is a species of swan, and thus a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is also 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 in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange bill bordered with black. It is recognisable by its pronounced knob atop the bill.

Winter Wren is a very small North American bird and a member of the mainly New World wren family Troglodytidae. It was once lumped with Troglodytes pacificus of western North America and Troglodytes troglodytes of Eurasia under the name winter wren. It breeds in coniferous forests from British Columbia to the Atlantic Ocean. It migrates through and winters across southeastern Canada, the eastern half the United States and rarely north-eastern Mexico. Small numbers may be casual in the western United States and Canada.

Mute Swan (疣鼻天鵝)
Ireland (2014)
31st July, 2014. Dublin

Winter Wren (鷦鷯)
  Ireland (2014)
31st July, 2014. Dublin

Black-legged Kittiwake

Black-legged Kittiwake (三趾鷗)
Ireland (2014)
21st July, 2014. Dublin

An Post increased the standard domestic letter rate again from 60c to 68c on 2014. As the new rate effective on July 21, An Post released couple of new coils and booklet stamps, those stamps still as well as Biodiversity definitive series. However An Post did not have special postmark to match those stamps, here is the maxicard of the stamps.

The Black-legged Kittiwake is a small, cliff-nesting gull, named for its loud, nasal ‘kitti-wake’ call. Its short legs are usually black, helping to distinguish it from the Red-legged Kittiwake. The hind toe of each foot is reduced to a mere bump, meaning it has only three functional toes instead of four, giving the Black-legged Kittiwake its scientific name, tridactyla, which means ‘three-toed’.

Bank Swallow

Bank Swallow (灰沙燕)
USA (2013)
Mountain Bluebird (山藍鳥) ; Evening Grosbeak (黃昏錫嘴雀)
USA (2014)
5th April, 2014. Audubon

Bank Swallow is the smallest swallow in North America and can be found on every continent except Antarctica. About five inches long, the slender bird digs nesting burrows in riverbanks, gravel pits and even highway cuts. Both males and females help dig the tunnel, first pecking out a shallow hole with their beaks, then using their feet to kick out the dirt.

Like all swallows, Bank Swallows are agile songbirds that specialize in catching insects in midair. A typical Bank Swallow colony can have anywhere from ten to nearly 2,000 nests. A sandbank riddled with holes, especially one near a river or lake, is likely to be the home of a colony of Bank Swallows.

Waterbirds of Indonesia

From left to right :
Blue-faced Rail (藍臉秧雞) ; Milky Stork (灰䴉鸛)
Javan Plover (爪哇鴴) ; White-shouldered Ibis (白肩黑䴉)
Indonesia (2014)
30th August, 2014. Jakarta

Indonesia is rich in waterbirds; it is home to about 380 species of these wetland dependent bird species. Waterbirds are extremely important both from a conservation and recreational point of view. Most of these species have adapted to the drastically changing conditions of wetlands through their migratory behaviour. Wetlands International works in Indonesia to protect waterbird populatons by taking a leading role in conservation work, and by building and sharing knowledge.

Many waterbirds complete annual migrations of several thousands of kilometres between their breeding and non-breeding areas, passing many country borders and even between continents. These migration routes are called flyways. Waterbird conservation and sustainable management requires coordinated actions throughout the length of a flyway. Indonesia belongs to the East Asian – Australasian Flyway.