Parrots of Burundi (I)

L : Red-fronted Parrot (黑翅賈丁氏鸚鵡) ; R : Cape Parrot (海角鸚鵡)
Burundi (2011)
20th October, 2014. Bujumbura

Red-fronted Parrot also known as the Jardine's parrot, is a medium-sized mainly green parrot endemic across wide areas of Africa. It has three subspecies. The extent and shade of the red or orange plumage on its head, thighs, and bend of wings vary depending on the subspecies. They are popular as pets, partly because of their ability to mimic speech and copy sounds. Trapping of wild birds for the pet trade is a potential threat to wild populations; however, they are protected by CITES (appendix II) making the trade, import and export of all wild-caught parrots illegal.

Cape Parrot is a short-tailed moderately large bird with a very large beak used to crack all sorts of hard nuts and fruit kernels, especially those of African yellowwood trees Podocarpus spp.. This contrasts with the closely related Savanna species (Poicephalus fuscicollis) which feeds on and a wide variety of tropical woodland trees such as Marula, Commiphora spp. and Terminalia spp.. These species are sexually dimorphic, with females typically sporting an orange frontal patch on the forehead. Juveniles also show a larger orange - pink patch on the forehead but lack the red on shoulders and legs of adults. These plumage characteristics vary among individuals and among the three recognized forms.

The Indian issue of 'International Year of Biodiversity'

Left : Indian Eagle-owl (印度雕鴞) ; 
Right : Ruddy Shelduck (赤麻鴨) and Brahminy Kite (栗鳶)
Postmark : Pale-capped Pigeon (紫林鴿)
India (2012)
24th August, 2014. Bhubaneswar
18th October, 2014. Hong-Kong

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity.The International Year of Biodiversity is a unique opportunity to increase understanding of the vital role that biodiversity plays in sustaining life on Earth.

⭕️Endangered Seabirds

Antipodean Albatross (安島信天翁)
New Zealand (2014)
25th September, 2014. Whanganui

New Zealand’s unique marine environment is home to a diverse range of seabirds, giving New Zealand the title of ‘seabird capital of the world’. Five of our most endangered seabirds are featured on this unique stamp issue that uses thermochromic ink to reflect the disappearing nature of these precious birds.

Antipodean Albatross is a large albatross that breeds almost exclusively on the Auckland and Antipodes Islands. They are masters of low-energy flying and forage over the contintental shelf edge and deep water areas.

Restricted to the Chatham Islands as their name suggests, this large black and white shag, is a conspicuous bird along the rocky coastlines. Colonies and roost sites are located on rocky headlands and islets and there is one colony in the Te Whanga Lagoon.

Black-billed Gulls are strongly colonial and breed predominantly on braided rivers from the coast to the headwaters. The species is found throughout New Zealand but is most common east of the southern divide in the South Island and in Southland.

Chatham Island Shag (查島鸕鶿)
New Zealand (2014)
25th September, 2014. Whanganui

Black-billed Gull (黑嘴鷗)
New Zealand (2014)

25th September, 2014. Whanganui

Black-faced Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill (黑面琵鷺)
Taiwan (2004)
20th September, 2014. Chigo

The black-faced Spoonbill has the most restricted distribution of all spoonbills, and it is the only one regarded as endangered. Spoonbills are large water birds with dorso-ventrally flattened, spatulate bills. These birds use a tactile method of feeding, wading in the water and sweeping their beaks from side-to-side to detect prey. Confined to the coastal areas of eastern Asia, it seems that it was once common throughout its area of distribution. It has a niche existence on only a few small rocky islands off the west coast of North Korea, with four wintering sites at Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as other places where they have been observed in migration. Wintering also occurs in Cheju, South Korea, Kyushu and Okinawa, Japan, and Red River, Delta Vietnam. More recently, sightings of Black-faced Spoonbill birds were noted in Thailand, the Philippines, mainland China, and Macao They were classified as an endangered species through IUCN in 2005. Declines in their population are predicted in the future, mainly due to the amount of deforestation, pollution, and other man-made industries.

⭕️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.

⭕️Bermuda bluebird

Eastern Bluebird (東方藍鴝)
Bermuda (2014)
13th August, 2014. Hamilton

The first and most drastic decline of the bluebird population occurred in the late 19th century when the House sparrow was introduced. The aggressive and adaptable sparrow multiplied rapidly and soon became the most abundant bird in Bermuda. The sparrow, as a hole-nester, rapidly displaced the bluebirds from the eaves of houses and soon began taking over the cliff holes and hollow of the cedar trees as well.

By the 1930's the natural bluebird nestlings were confined almost exclusively to holes in the trunks of cedar trees. The cedar scale endemic in the late 1940's and early 1950's killed over 90% of Bermuda's cedar forest. In an attempt to remove the eyesore and reforest the island the Government and private landowners felled most of the dead cedars destroying many ideal-nesting hollows.

 

Eastern Bluebird (東方藍鴝)
Bermuda (2014)
13th August, 2014. Hamilton