Sunday, September 8, 2013

Oriental Birds

Arriving back in Manila today, I'm greeted with two postcards on top of my study table. At the back of one card are really bright and beautiful stamps:



Issued by SingPost, the green stamp is from the "Pond Life" definitive collection, issued in 13 April 2011. It features the most common and beautiful specie of damselfly -- Ceriagrion cerinorubellum, commonly known as ornate coraltail. Another stamp from this set, can be found here.

The red stamp is from the "Flora and Fauna" set issued 6 June 2007. For the Aethopyga siparaja, the males have the bright crimson belly and greenish black tail. The females are olive green with hints of pale yellow. To read more about other commemorative stamps from this series, click here.

Drawing inspiration from these two stamps, I found similar ones to share for Sunday Stamps. It's perfect 'cause the theme this week is 'anything you wish'.


Issued in 2005 by Pos Malaysia, the stamp shows tekukur or the spotted dove, Streptopilia chinensis. The Malay name was derived from its soft te-croo-croo call. More information about this bird can be found here.


These 4 stamps are from a PhilPost special issue on 7 March 2008. I have the entire souvenir sheet and very happy to have it. It was for the Philippine participation at the 2008 Taipei 21st Asian International Stamp Exhibition. The first stamp (upper left) is the Philippine Eagle or Pithecophaga jefferyi -- our national bird. To read about these stamps and other stamps from the issue, click here.


These 2 stamps are from the bird definitive stamps issued by the HongKong Post on 31 December 2006. I have here the Greater Painted-Snipe or Rostratula benghalensis and the Red-whiskered Bulbul or Pycnonotus jocosus. The souvenir sheet features 12 birds (including these 2), and there were 4 high-value stamps, that can be found here. The complete set can be found here.

I'm happy to come up with many related stamps to the Singaporean stamps. Also, it's nice to know that despite most places are highly urbanized, there are still tangible efforts to raise awareness for the protection of our ecosystem, like printing beautiful birds on stamps. I think my challenge is to check out whether I have bird stamps from the west in my collection...Well, we'll see to that, until the next 'anything you wish' theme for Sunday Stamps.

~maria

6 comments:

  1. I am growing fonder of birds they are such amazing creatures..i love the first two stamps especially cos they are so colourful! Maybe birds can be an upcoming theme? So many to choose from :)

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  2. Birds make a perfect stamp subject and you have chosen some great examples. I'm rather fond of dragonflies and it is always interesting to see how artists portray them on stamps.

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  3. All the birds are important, though the most colorful ones look best on stamps. The green stamp makes the ornate coraltails look like little fairies when enlarged.

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  4. Birds can certainly be an upcoming theme. they have been a theme in the past too - I don't remember how long ago.
    I hope the Philippine eagle is not endangered, as so many birds of prey are.

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  5. of all the stamps I collect (or acquire!) birds would be my favourite theme.

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  6. These are a great selection of birds. I am always pleased to see birds from other countries and if they are on stamps like these that is a bonus.

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