June 2019 Vol.33 No.4

Europa Birds Update

Folklore of Bird Names ….. The Blackbird

Insight

The Into the Bird of Capercaillie Paradise Story

PLUS …….

All your regular features, The Rare and Unusual ChiffChaff Chat; New Listings; Philatelic Updates, Puzzles and more ………. Hoatzin

The Bird Stamp Society

(www.birdstampsociety.org) Founded August 1986

The Bird Stamp Society was formed to cater for the large number of collectors who specialise in bird stamps and relevant material

CHAIRMAN Ashlyn’s Lodge, Chesham Road, Berkhampstead, Herts, HP4 2ST Tel. No: 01442 876995 Tony Statham [email protected] VICE CHAIR 10 Bradsole House, Abbey Park, Park Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 1PN Tel. No: 020 8650 8016 Doug Blake [email protected]

GENERAL 31 Springwood Rise, Kelso, Scottish Borders, SECRETARY TD5 8BE Tel. No: 01573 226770 Mel West [email protected] TREASURER 23a East Main Street, Blackburn, West Lothian, EH47 7QR Tel. No: 01506 651029 Graham Horsman [email protected] MEMBERSHIP Details as above SECRETARY

Graham Horsman AUCTION Vacant SECRETARY

PACKET 51, Ketelbey Drive, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG22 4PE SECREATRY Tel. No: 01256 415699 [email protected] Philip Cant FLIGHT EDITOR 6, Hawthorne Close, Grateley, Hampshire, SP11 8JL Tel. No: 01264 889735 [email protected] Gilly Christmas FLIGHT Details as above DISTRIBUTOR

Gilly Christmas NEW ISSUES & WEBSITE 5, North Street, Cambuskenneth, Stirling, FK9 5NB Tel. No: 01786 471161 Roger Chapman [email protected]

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 2

Contents

Regulars

11 Chiffchaff Chat The Editor gives an update on the Europa Birds Features 14 Puzzling Page 5 Cover Story Folklore of Provincial Birdnames No prizes this time round, it’s just for fun!!

A further offering from John Graham, this time on the Blackbird 16 Committee Reports Important news from your dedicated Committee 6 Cover Story The Western Capercaillie Graham U’ren invites us to have a look at his 18 Buzin Watch Postal collection to tell the story of this iconic bird Mel West on the latest edition to the Belgium Buzins

10 Cover Story Unusual Birds Rarely Seen 19 Recent New Birds in the Philatelic Aviary On Stamps Roger Chapman’s excellent detailed updates on new Tony Statham fills us in on the Hoatzin birds gracing our hobby

12 Cover Story A Special BoP 21 New Listings The ecology and history of the fabulous Bird of Comprehensive and detailed updates in a new format, Paradise, beautifully explained by Carol Mitchell for all new listings, compiled by Roger Chapman

15 More Extinct Birds 31 Subscription Renewal Reminder Gilly Christmas looks at the Cuban Extinct Birds set

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 3

Welcome

VOLUME 33; NO 4 MARCH 2019

Gilly Christmas - Editor of Flight

Contributors in this Edition: Swallows About - Must Be Summer !  Tony Statham;  Mel West;  Graham Horsman; t last some warmth and sunshine in bigger amounts! I’m a warm temperature  John Graham; A  Graham U’Ren person and so I can’t wait for summer to arrive each year. Late spring and in to  Roger Chapman summer, watching the Blackbird, Starling, Rook, Sparrow and Robin chicks bouncing  Carol Mitchell around the garden … a delightful sight. Sadly, for one reason or another, I have not been bouncing around my stamp collection … I had intended great things during the Flight is the quarterly magazine winter and spring months, a big sort out, re-design of storage, little sketches to of the Bird Stamp Society, accompany my listings …. Nope, none of it got done! And so I was very jealous to read published in March, June, Graham U’ren’s article on the Capercaillie, and discover how he has sorted his collection September and December. Material should be sent to the of postal items to tell the story of this iconic bird … a fascinating read on page 6. editor by the middle of the month preceding publication - at It seems we have an individual ‘birdy’ theme for this edition! Our Chairman has the very latest. Members are contributed a piece on the very unusual Hoatzin on page 10 , whilst Carol Mitchell’s invited to consult the editor in regular piece for the magazine zones in on the Bird of Paradise for this edition on page advance regarding submission 12. and format of material. Thank you (do I say this too many times?!) to all the members for sending me Back numbers of “Flight” are contributions … it really does (with a big sigh …) make my life so much easier when it available from the Secretary @ comes to ‘Flight time’ each quarter! free of charge plus P&P. John Graham educates us in the folklore tales of the common Blackbird, on page 5, Annual Subscriptions there is an update on the Europa bird stamps being issued on page 11, as well as all the (Renewable 31st July) regulars for you to enjoy. UK Members: £15.00; European members: £22.00 (or Euro Please do read the Committee reports, and in particular, the Membership report from equivalent); Overseas members: Graham, which outlines a decision we have just taken on the distribution of non hard £27.00 (add £5 bank charges if copy Flight. Hopefully, this decision will be acceptable for those members that did not paid in foreign rate / cheque). respond to Graham’s email. With today’s technology, the emailing of 4mb of magazine Email Subscribers/members: will not be a problem for mailboxes, but if you do have an issue with the receipt of £5.00 (UK / Worldwide for BOTH Flight via email, then please do let me know asap. I’m old school … still much prefer to Flight & Auction). read a magazine in print. I spend enough time looking at a computer screen to not want to also read Flight online, and the quality of print from an email is not a patch on ALL stamps dotted about the commercial print. And before anyone says please send me the commercial print via place in this edition of ‘Flight’ are email, the answer is an apologetic but firm ‘No’ …… 25mb to 54 email boxes is not from the year 1995. There are funny, so the 4mb minimum print pdf copy will have to suffice! some exceptions, usually within members articles, and these have been labelled accordingly. Whilst on the subject of communication ….. If you have any queries or requests in relation to Flight, then please do get in touch with me, and send a copy to Graham (if corresponding via email).

Please do not forget that it is subscription renewal time, and a form is duly enclosed with this edition of Flight.

I hope you enjoy the read!

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 4

Folklore of Provincial Birdnames - Part Two

John Graham continues his insight in to the folklore of some of our common bird names …… this time around he delves in to the wonders of the Blackbird.

European Blackbird him now that he had been seen, explained Turdus merula to the blackbird that he must seek out the Prince of Riches in his palace, hidden in the bowels of the earth, and offer the Prince his services, who will then allow him to carry off as much treasure as he could carry in his beak. The magpie also told the blackbird that he would pass through many caverns, each containing great stores of wealth, but that he must not touch any single piece until he had actually seen the Prince himself. The blackbird ventured into the underground passages until he reached the first cavern, the walls of which were bright with silver. He carried on further until he came to another cavern, this time shining with pure gold, which all proved too much for him, so he plunged his beak into the glittering gold dust, which was From its colour, the Blackbird receives strewn across the cavern floor. the names of Black Uzzle i.e. ouzel Immediately, a terrible demon (Craven), where this seems to refer to appeared, vomiting fire and smoke, who being a “black sheep”. It also is called a then rushed upon the bird with great Blackie in the North Riding and in parts speed. The blackbird managed to escape of Scotland, as well as an Ousel or Ousel though from this demon, but however, the Cock (see Midsummer Nights Dream), a black smoke was that thick that it forever Garden Ousel, a Woofell, and a Merle, changed the colour of his feathers from this last again in parts of Scotland also white to black, and that this would forever in Ireland, which derives from the Latin be his colouring, with the exception, merula. however, of his beak, which still preserves “When the blackbird sings before the colour of the gold that he was trying to Christmas, she will cry before carry off. And this is why, even today, Candlemas” was a rhyme common in when surprised, he utters a piercing cry of County Meath. Also in Ireland it was terror, as if he fears being attacked again believed that “when the blackbird by another monster.” sings loud and shrill, rain is sure to follow” and this also is commonly heard even today across much of the UK. In the neighbourhood of Brescia, Italy, the last two days of January and the first two days of February are called “the blackbird's days”, and the story is that this bird, whose original colour was white, became black one year because these three days were so cold that it had to take refuge in a chimney. In parts of Germany the blackbird is Another French folktale tells that called a “Guttling”, or “little god”, and is “One day, while lurking in a thicket, the supposed to be a protection against blackbird, whose colour in those times lightning, if kept caged in the house. was white as snow, saw a magpie very There is also the belief that, “the souls of busily hiding in a those purgatory were kept in the hole of a tree, crops of blackbirds and exposed to diamonds, jewels hellfire until Judgement fire daily.” and pieces of golden coins. He And, finally, there is the tale of St. Kevin approached the who, while praying in the Temple of the magpie and asked Rock at Glendalough in Count Wicklow, how he also could with one hand outstretched, saw a secure such blackbird descend and drop her eggs into wealth. The the palm. The compassionate Saint never magpie, not daring removed his hand until the eggs hatched! to withhold this information from

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 5

The Western Capercaillie

By Graham U’ren

Member Graham U’ren provides a fascinating insight into how he has put together a selection of different items from his bird stamp collection to provide a story on the Capercaillie.

Saving the Capercaillie Creating a Collection This project was significant for me as it was to be the first involving serious It was not long before I realised that an research for the write up and ordered I have been a member of the RSPB for interesting collection from my bird stamps presentation of any part of my chaotic could be put together to tell the story of collection. I have been collecting, or longer than I can remember. Twelve years the capercaillie. However, I had in mind should I say accumulating, bird stamps for ago, I was given the chance to become a something modest – the Gibbons 2003 most of my working life - as preparation founder member of the Friends of the edition of “Collect Birds on Stamps” listed for retirement, I would tell myself. Well, Capercaillie, a group within the RSPB 33 stamps of the Western capercaillie that time had arrived! Scotland which raises money for research Tetrao urogallus and one of the Black I now realise that there is a sizeable and conservation programmes designed to Billed Capercaillie Tetrao urogalloides, step to be made to turn stock books and arrest the decline of the Capercaillie most of which I had. I had no idea just packets of bird stamps and interminable population in this country. how large the project would become once I check lists and file notes into a coherent In the 1970s there were some 20,000 started to search intensively to find covers, and satisfying collection and that all birds in the pine forests of Scotland. The cancellations and serious thematic collectors face a numbers then steadily dropped to about other related challenge in designing a structure for their 1000 over the next 30 years, habitat material. collections and displays. It took me a year pressure probably being the main cause. At to organise this quite small part of my an estimated 1200, the current population Liechtenstein overall collection. It was not just deciding has stabilised but the range has shrunk and produced the first the different sections for evolution and there are no signs of an immediate capercaillie stamp taxonomy, range, description and significant revival. However, the RSPB is in 1946. behaviour, human interactions, certain that without this programme, the conservation, capercaillie in art and local bird would be heading for extinction in this Right: An un-adopted and military posts that took the time but country. Much has been achieved, especially essay for the 1911 the finding of material to fill gaps and to at the Society’s huge Abernethy pine forest Liechtenstein definitives create a balance in presentation and text reserve on the northern slopes of the issue which would have both overall and on each individual page. Cairngorm mountains and through the been the first capercaillie Over the winter of 2015-16, I grasped growing cooperation of other forest owners, stamp 35 years earlier. the nettle and mounted and wrote up the public and private. collection and was staggered to find myself several months later with 60 pages. These included 260 items (a few of them non philatelic) with 510 images of the Western Capercaillie. There is still only the sole issue for the Black Billed Capercaillie, from Mongolia. Above all, my knowledge was greatly expanded by the special covers and cancellations that turned up relating to the capercaillie as an icon of both hunting and of conservation right across Europe from Spain in the west to the Yenesei valley in the east which divides Russia and the territories of the two species. The resulting album caught the attention of the RSPB and featured in one of its newsletters.

RSPB Friends of the Capercaillie newsletter Slovenia 1999 pre-stamped wildlife postal stationery with special cancellation, with a cock 2016 capercaillie in pine forest habitat.

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 6

THE WESTERN CAPERCAILLIE

A Systematic Study of the Western Capercaillie

My collection starts with a section on the Taxonomy and Evolution of the species, referring in passing to the four species of the genus Tetrao, or forest dwelling “wood grouse” – Western Capercaillie, Black Billed Capercaillie, Eurasian Black Grouse and the Caucasian Black Grouse.

Capercaillie stamps and cancellations from Mongolia 1961 Spain (central column bottom), tete-beche Bulgaria and Poland, below. triangles of Tetrao urogalloides

Below: Tuva 1934 tete-beche triangles of a capercaillie sp.

This marginal block from a sheet of the 1968

Pro Juventute stamp shows the name of the

Capercaillie in the languages spoken in

Switzerland.

The European

Black Grouse

(T tetrix),

featured here

from Poland , As far as the range of the bird is 1970 , S.G. 1973 concerned, it is most common in the vast

Boreal forests of Scandinavia and western Apart from local issues from the

Russia. However, there are remnant Scottish islands, there have been no

populations on the forested slopes of most postally valid stamps from Great Britain

of the main mountain ranges of Central illustrating the capercaillie, to date. The

Europe from the Cantabrians to the 1980 airletter featuring the Wildlife of Scotland, however, includes a hen Rhodopes in the south and from the

Cairngorms to the Carpathians further capercaillie in the undergrowth in the left

north. Of the 34 countries in the range of middle ground (top of page above).

the Western Capercaillie, 28 have to date The name capercaillie derives from the

issued stamps showing the species. Scots Gaelic capull coille meaning “horse

of the woods”, from a time when the bird

was far more common in this country. However, it was reintroduced in Perthshire

in the early nineteenth century, after The Caucasian Black Grouse extinction as a result of overhunting. (T mlokosiewiczi) , Azerbaijan 1994

Description and behaviour One of the earliest stamps came from the remote inland Russian Republic of Tuva and In describing the bird, the 2013 the 1950s stamp may in fact represent a miniature sheet (next page) from Bulgaria hybrid of the two capercaillies which are speaks for itself. The cock is a third larger found in this marginal area between the two than the hen and is one of only a few male species of capercaillie. birds (some other grouse, ruff, bustard,

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 7

THE WESTERN CAPERCAILLIE

Hunting and Conservation The relationship with humans has been dominated by hunting and latterly by conservation. Among stamp issues and postmarks, there is a marked change in emphasis from the 1970s onwards as the previously celebrated magnificent gamebird, which adorns many of the castles of central Europe as an example of the taxidermist’s art, became a symbol of global conservation instead.

cock of the rock, musk duck, birds of paradise etc.) which uses its size, plumage and aggression at a lekking ground to contest for the right to mate with the local females. It is mainly black with a fan tail which it spreads when challenged, with a pattern of white spots, a bristling beard and a red eyebrow wattle to show off. The Above: One of several first day covers produced for the 1965 German Youth Fund females, on the contrary, are smaller and stamps, featuring game birds and even a slaughtered bird in the well camouflaged for their role in rearing the cover illustration. chicks under cover of the forest undergrowth. As sedentary birds they are Left: Iconic image of a cock capercaillie from the 1959 Austria adapted for the cold with dense plumage issue for the International Hunting Congress. and feathered feet and they are clumsy th fliers. Below right: This 1967 official shooting card from the 600 anniversary of the Koblenz Schutzenfest uses a Capercaillies mostly inhabit mature pine capercaillie as a target. forests with clearings and ground cover of heather and berry bushes such as blaeberry (bilberry), juniper, cowberry or cloudberry, which yield fruit, shoots and caterpillars in the spring for nourishing the chicks. The winter staple for the adults is a survival diet of pine needles. However, the bird is found in other habitats in the more southern ranges, such as beech, oak and holly forest.

In latter years, however, the bird has been an international symbol for conservation and sustainability across Europe, as shown by the recent Serbia issue (top left) and the stamp and special cancellation from Romania, bottom left . The national parks of Europe and Russia, in particular, have featured the capercaillie in stamps, cancellations, covers and postal stationery as symbols of their conservation aims and of the particular programmes for protection of the capercaillie where it occurs. This 1979 booklet and part pane from the The Bavarian national park and the Sumava national park respectively constitute former Yugoslavia shows the capercaillie in an the great Bohemian Forest astride the border between Germany and the Czech oak woodland habitat. Republic and are the subject of capercaillie stamps and cancellations, shown on the next page.

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 8

THE WESTERN CAPERCAILLIE

the WW2 Swiss air force welfare issue for the Flieger KP17 parachute unit.

Not only was the neutral country’s air force not known for its combat action, especially after a stiff warning from the German High Command after downing a German aircraft at the start of the war, but the capercaillie can hardly be considered to be the most agile advertisement for any airborne fighting force.

Local and Military stamps Apart from the Scottish islands, other areas in Europe which have produced local stamps featuring the capercaillie, include Sweden (Mullsjö and Gastrikland) and they also feature on the stamps of at least one private postal firm (Citipost).

The Hartz mountains of central Germany were favourite hunting grounds for the wealthy and aristocratic in the nineteenth century with many hunting lodges, some incorporating the name of the bird in German – auerhahn. Today, the national park bans hunting in some parts but still licences it in others. Despite the vast areas of forest habitat in Russia, there are also large national parks and reserves with strict conservation policies for the capercaillie and other species.

Above: – a block of local post stamps of 2002 from Mulsjö in Sweden in the heart of the southern forests. Above – two examples from covers sent Finally, one of the more unusual from Swiss airbases of the capercaillie occurrences of the capercaillie on stamps is welfare stamps for 1939 and 1940.

Contrasting commemorations from 1948. Above: – a 1948 cancellation from Hahnenklee in the Oberhartz, then a popular hunting forest.

Central column, top – a first day cover and cancellation for the 1992 Russian stamp commemorating the Prioksko Terrasnyi reserve just south of Moscow, founded for conservation in the same year, 1948!

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 9

UNUSUAL BIRDS RARELY SEEN ON BIRD STAMPS By Tony Statham

compared to that of ruminants (cows, While the title of these occasional articles sheep, goats, etc.) in that they are the only known birds to have a foregut where on unusual birds rarely seen on bird stamps the plant material ferments. This often is appropriate, the species chosen this time endows the birds with an unpleasant is quite bizarre. It is of course unique as any odour. The birds tend to forage in the species is, but the Hoatzin of South America early morning and again in the evening in boasts a number of strange features which social groups but spend much of the day renders it rather special. resting and digesting their food.

Indeed, this particular feature at one stage prompted early systematists to suggest that the Hoatzin was in fact descended from the ancient reptilian-like feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx which had three functional claws on each wing but this has since been refuted by suggesting the Hoatzin claws evolved relatively recently as an aid for the young to clamber back to their nest sites. The Hoatzin, with the complex Latin This stamp from Bhutan readily name of Opisthocomus hoazin, has baffled illustrates an image of what Archaeopteryx scientists since its discovery in 1776 and has never been comfortably allied to any other group of living birds. It was initially thought to be part of the Galliformes, a large family including game birds and such-like suggesting that the Hoatzin was some type of Pheasant. More recently, some researchers have allied it to the Cuckoos or Turacos but the evidence to support this is somewhat ambiguous. It thus has its own order and family and the similar generic name originates from the Greek “wearing long hair Another remark- might have looked like but it might be behind”, a reference to the strange crest of able aspect of Hoatzins is the behaviour of tempting to think some artists have used stiff feathers some 4cm – 8cm long which the young. Nests the Hoatzin to create the images of the tend to remain erect in a loose manner. The consist of a flat platform of twigs and prehistoric bird. There are in fact over whole bird (head to tail) measures sticks constructed in the rainy season and eighty stamps with some quite fanciful approximately 65cm (a little over two feet) above water; if successful, nest sites are images of Archaeopteryx and I dare say and weighs about 800gms. often used in subsequent years. Two to some people assemble just these as a four eggs are laid and chicks quickly attain special part of a collection. a layer of dark brown down, opening their There are less than twenty stamps eyes 24 hours after hatching and illustrating the Hoatzin and as might be becoming quite mobile after three days. expected, most of these come from South While they can move around the nest America, especially Guyana who boasts using their wings and quite large feet, they ten in all. Inevitably some countries show only attain flight feathers after about three the bird on their stamps even if they are weeks. Growth is slow in the young birds African but the illustrations are most and diet is thought to be an influence in acceptable. Happily the species is this factor. relatively secure but there will be threats Young birds will jump out of their nests is some parts of it range from agricultural when only a few days old to avoid the developments and it must be remembered attention of predators which often include that the species is very sedentary and monkeys or raptor species. The chicks reluctant to migrate to more favourable typically fall into the water below the nest habitat if its home range is threatened. Hoatzins inhabit much of the Northern and can swim a few metres to the safety As always I am countries in South America, thus east of the of a branch or other vegetation from hugely grateful to Andes in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, where they can clamber back up to the Lynx Edicions and Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Guyana. They nest area. This escape routine is greatly BirdLife International favour thick forest close to streams, rivers helped by the extraordinary double claws for much of the and lakes with perhaps 80% of their diet on the fore-edge of each wing as shown textual material and consisting of new growth of green leaves above right, and in the first stamp to Kjell Scharning’s website, Theme Birds and buds. Their digestive system has been illustrating this article. on Stamps for the images.

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 10

Chiffchaff Chat … on Europa Birds

This year some postal featuring the Bearded Vulture, but it is the he Europa bird stamps are coming in T administrations will souvenir sheet which is particularly thick and fast now, and those of you with a add an Augmented stunning!, as you can see below. block order for these stamps will have reality (AR) noticed a bumper lot of stamps in the experience to their month of May. The bad news is that it’s Europa stamps ! The hitting the bank balance hard, but the good countries will be news is, that there are only so many postal taking part in the administrations in Europe and we have had Europa Stamps Bird Project 2019, which issues from quite a few now … phew!! enables you to scan the stamps issued by In the last issue of Flight, I gave an that country with your phone to hear the overview of some of the stamps being bird song. This is achieved by loading the issued during the first few months of 2019. CEE-App on to your phone. For this issue, I have picked out some of my favourites from the last two months , Have a look at the PostEurop website link outline some stamps coming up in the next here: https://www.posteurop.org/ few months, and look into a phone App showNews?selectedEventId=35867 As I mentioned at the beginning of this which lets you hear the birdsong of some - they have a video online showing how article, the number of stamps being issued of the birds featured in the Europa series. the CEE-App works, and also some more has increased dramatically in May, as detailed information on the Europa stamps shown in the table below. So, my favourites so far: and how to vote for your favourite! From those issued in April and May - The stamp shown below from Norway Month Number of Countries PORTUGAL AZORES - released on 9th shows the logo you need to look out for on Issuing Their Europa May, a beautiful stamp featuring the the stamps which can be scanned for bird Stamp Goldcrest together with a souvenir sheet song. with Goldcrest and Fieldfare, shown below. JANUARY 1 (Russia) FEBRUARY 3 (Gibralter, Isle of Man, Georgia)

MARCH 4 (Liechtenstein, Jersey, Vatican, Armenian Post)

APRIL 18 (including Guernsey, Iceland, Moldova, Bulgaria and Estonia)

MAY 30 (including Cyprus, Germany, GREECE - 2 stamps also issued on 9th Switzerland, Belarus, May, and featuring one of my favourite Hungary and Kosovo) birds, the Nuthatch (actually showing the Another favourite issue of mine is from

Western Rock Nuthatch), and Eleonora’s GUERNSEY, mentioned by Tony in the The next offerings seem to be coming Falcon - both shown below. Chairman’s report, and one of the available from Georgia, Belgium, Turkish Cyprus, sheets is shown below … this stamp can be Greenland, Albania and Azerbaijan …. So scanned for bird song. watch this space! But I think the all-time favourite so far

POLAND - the Common Chaffinch features on this countries’ contribution to the Europa series, and was issued on 24th April. It also comes in a sheet of 9 stamps. must be the contribution from SPAIN, issued on 24th April - a single stamp

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 11

A SPECIAL BOP (BIRD OF PARADISE)

by Carol Mitchell

Paradisaea raggiana became the national These are some 30 ‘Nature seems to have taken every bird of Papua New Guinea in 1971 and its – 100 metres in image appears on the country’s flag as a diameter, within which precaution that these, her choicest yellow silhouette with its wings open and its is a group of tall treasures, may not lose value by being plumes trailing above the five stars of the slender trees on which easily obtained. First we find an open, Southern Cross constellation on a red the males compete for harbourless, inhospitable cost, exposed to background whilst on the national crest it is prominent perches the full swell of the Pacific Ocean; next, a depicted displaying wings and plumes and and, once found, these rugged and mountainous country, covered perched on a kudu (drum) with a spear. are defended forcefully with dense forests, offering in its swamps from rivals as up to ten and precipices and serrated ridges an males compete at any one time. Then the almost impassable barrier to the central display begins with clapping wings and regions; and lastly, a race of the most shaking head. savage and ruthless character……In such a The nest is bowl-shaped, made of country and among such a people are found leaves, stems, ferns and any other plant these wonderful productions of nature. In material to beak and is lined with soft those trackless wilds do they display that horsehair fronds and positioned 2 – 11 exquisite beauty and that marvellous metres above ground in tree branches – development of plumage, calculated to the height is dictated by the likelihood of excite admiration and astonishment among human disturbance. The clutch is the most civilised and most intellectual normally two pinkish buff eggs and the races of man……..’ incubation period is 18 days in the wild

North Korea 2011 and 20 days in captivity. As in all These are the words of Alfred Russel polygamous birds of paradise, the female Wallace in his 1862 ‘Narrative of Search Whilst spectacular, this is not a big bird, alone assumes all incubation duties and after Birds of Paradise’ (BOP) for the just 13 inches long. Its overall colour is once hatched the offspring would expect ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of maroon-brown with a greyish-blue bill, an to live for between 5 and 8 years. London’. The passage refers to the eye with a yellow iris and, continuing the difficulties facing early visitors to Papua New greyish description, greyish-brown feet. The Guinea (PNG). Whilst modern travel difference comes in the gender: the male cocoons travellers, the difficulties faced by has a yellow crown, dark emerald green the first explorers must have seemed so throat and yellow collar above its black daunting that it makes the mind boggle that upper breast feathers. Then there is the tail they carried on regardless. But they did and plumes – a pair of long black tail wires and are deserving of our gratitude for the which are revealed below the great vivid wonders they revealed. scarlet fountain above his back during his One of the first detailed explorations of display. New Guinea was by an Italian naturalist In true avian world fashion, the female who, in 1875, became the first person to has just the yellow head to distinguish her chart the Fly River in what is now Papua but is comparatively a little drab observer of New Guinea. Luigi D’Albertis made three the exhibition. The male ornamental flank When the first birds of paradise arrived voyages in successive years and collected plumes vary in colour from red to orange in Europe, they had been mounted with- vast amounts of flora and fauna which are depending on subspecies. The nominate out legs or wings, so it was believed ini- now housed in the Natural History Museum Paradisea raggiana raggiana has the deepest tially that they were magical creatures of Giacomo Doria in Genoa. However, this red plumes while the subspecie Paradisea that flew among the clouds (which is why, was an individual who, far from being our raggiana augustavictoriae of the northeast according to the legend, they did not need vision of a caring naturalist, then bullied, region, also known as the Empress of legs), they lived on cloud dew, obtained plundered, raped, pillaged and murdered his Germany’s bird of paradise, has apricot- their colours from flying close to the sun ways through the landscape and earned the orange plumes. and fell to earth when they died. universal criticism of his contemporaries, Their diet consists During the 19th century there was such both explorers and colonial administrators. mainly of fruits and a high demand for the feathers by Dynamite fishing and theft of ancestral arthropods and the European and American fashionable remains, tools and weapons from the bird is a very milliners that bird numbers plummeted houses of the local people were some of his important seed dramatically and, according to one official less heinous techniques. His full and dispenser of the source, at the start of the 20th century, repugnant exploits are condemned in the fruiting trees, 50,000 birds of paradise were killed and 1977 book by John Goode appropriately especially of exported annually. Fortunately, sanity called ‘The Rape of the Fly: Explorations in mahogany and prevailed and, following an export ban in New Guinea’. nutmeg, two vital 1922, bird numbers began to recover. The Italian’s single beneficial sources of income for Although actual numbers have not been achievement was his discovery of a new the local economy. Polygamy rules the roost counted, the species is regarded now as Bird of Paradise which he named after his here. Just like capercaillie, the males widespread and common throughout its patron, the Marquis Francis Raggi of Genoa. congregate in leks. region with a stable population and is

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 12

The Bird of Paradise evaluated as of Least Concern on the IUCN list. This status has enabled some feathers to be made available locally for tribal use. Whilst tradition allows replacements, most current communities prefer to continue to use those handed down from generation to generation and which have been kept, guarded carefully, in bamboo tubes. The main exponents utilising Raggiana feathers are the hunter-gatherer Huli wigmen of PNG’s Tari Highlands who are noted for a bird dance in which they mimic the birds’ movements. The most outstanding place to see the Raggiana in Papua New Guinea is the Baiyer Wildlife Sanctuary which is north of Mount Hagen, the capital city of the Western Highlands Province.

S.G. 42

S.G 175 The indigenous name for the bird in Tok Pisin is kumul. First played in Papua New Mongolia 2012 S.G. 452 Guinea in the late 1940s and introduced there by Australian soldiers, the national The first stamps to feature the Raggiana team is nicknamed the Kumuls and its BOP were issued in 1931 and 1932 by New logo features the bird. Whilst the game is Guinea and in were in four sets between played with the right shaped ball,

S.G. Nos 150-203 with two sets of Officials unfortunately it is the wrong code, Rugby

O31-O54. The depiction is monochromatic League, not Union. But, as the bird is so and far from explicit – it could be any BOP - beautiful, small details (!!) can be but the current catalogue total value of forgiven!! those six sets is £2000. The bird also appears on a Papua stamp of 1932 with an overprint for KGV Jubilee in 1935.

S.G. 879

Australia has issued one in 1984 , S.G. 904, New Guinea - S.G . 150 and 151

Papua S.G 133

with the Bird of Paradise being visible on Once Papua New Guinea started issuing New Guinea stamps, and Ghana, a country stamps of the variety in 1963, colours not to be left where spectacular colour is began to do our feathered friend more justice but, with such a plethora of BOPs to concerned, has a MS from 1996 - S.G. choose from, our one has to take its turn MS2319. with just a few to show its magnificence.

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 13

PUZZLING PAGE

Sadly, the response to the last two competition features in Flight have been almost non-existent, and so we will continue to put in a puzzle every now and again, but there will be no prizes … they will be purely just for a bit of fun. My thanks to the few folk that did send in entries, and congrats to Colin Undrill for sending in the correct solution to the Grid-word puzzle in March—prize on it’s way to you! Here is the completed grid-word (below left).

ACROSS

6.The opposite of a white yaffle

10. A beautiful bird with a song poets enthused about.

11. Collecting stamps for example, in Europe and Asia.

16. This is a dowdy looking peewit. ? 18. A genial thing (anagram).

19. This Larus is common in the Gulf, but rare in Arabia.

EUROPEAN BIRDS CROSSWORD JUST FOR 22. Its species name originates from “white” and “arse”, but this one also wears a cowl also. FUN 23. A grackle?.

My thanks to John Graham for providing this issue’s puzzle …. 24. A garrulous? Omnivore that likes small birds A taxing crossword me thinks! No prizes on offer, but can you and their eggs.

solve the clues …. All answers are European birds …. Answers 25. -Halcyon days with that bloke from Hamlyn in the next edition of Flight. Town makes one of these.

DOWN

1. -Greedy littler “solar” found on St. Kilda maybe?

2. Sturnus vulgaris isn't at all common now.

3. The old name for these birds is a “chat”

4. A bit confusing this one, its neither one or the other.

5. Commonly known as a “wheat bird”

7. This yellow one has the normal “see-saw” tail action.

8. Latin for a common bird of prey.

9. It cries tu-whit-tu-whoo!

12. String the banner across the street, especially in winters grip.

13. Ole England term is a “cushat”

14. An Asian species found with an erectile crest.

15. Two of the Stones were born here, and they can sing too.

17. Perhaps Mr Clunes enjoys being in the dunes?

20. This pigeon can be found in-between a ----- and a hard place.

22. Its Russian and Asian counterpart is known as an Azure ---

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 14

More Extinct Birds

Gilly Christmas follows John Graham’s introduction to this new series with a look at the ‘Extinct Bird’ set from Cuba

The great auk’s demise was the result of 8c - Passenger many factors: it was an important part of Pigeon, once many Native American cultures, both as a probably the food source and as a symbolic item. Early most common European explorers to the Americas used bird in the world, the great auk as a convenient food source with single flocks EXTINCT BIRDS Set - Cuba 1974 or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers. numbering up to The bird's down was in high demand in several billion Europe, a factor that largely eliminated birds, they I think this was one of the first bird sets I the European populations by the mid-16th became extinct century. It eventually became extinct in bought when my interest in stamps was just over 100 the middle of the 19th century due to revitalised some years ago. Partly, I suppose years ago. excessive hunting. because it was a fairly cheap set to buy, but Prevalent also because of the different nature of the throughout the eastern and mid-western Afew examples of other Countries set …. extinct birds. United States and Canada—the males slate featuring these birds on stamps -blue with copper undersides and hints of Dodo: Mauritius The 1c - Mauritius purple, the females more muted — huge

Dodo, a flight- flocks of passenger pigeons would search 1950 less bird uniquely out bumper crops of acorns and found on beechnuts. Nesting birds took over whole Mauritius. It was forests, forming what John James Audubon just over 3 feet in 1831 called “solid masses as large as tall, weighing hogs-heads.” And they were noisy! And about 20kg and testy too, and were hunted to extinction

supposedly related for their meat and as a sport. 2007 to pigeons and

doves — thank 10c - The Moa , a

goodness current giant flightless and Cuban Macaw: Guinea Bissau pigeons are not as wingless bird big, they would flatten the plants in my native to New 2012 garden!! Sadly, this is one of the world's Zealand, thought most infamous examples of how man's to have become Passenger Pigeon: impact on the natural habitat of a species extinct around British Virgin Islands can rapidly drive it to the point of extinction. 1500.

In 1598, Dutch sailors came across these There were nine flightless birds on Mauritius and immediately species of these saw its potential for meat, and by 1681, the extinct birds. They 1985 hungry Dutch sailors had contributed a big belong to the ratite group of birds, which portion to its disappearance. also includes ostriches, emus and kiwi.

Genetic comparisons suggest that the The Moa: 3c - Cuban closest relatives of moa are the flighted St. Vincent & Macaw, a small tinamous of South America. Grenadines species of parrot These birds were hunted to extinction by 1999 native to Cuba Māori, who found them easy targets. Their and the Isla de la flesh was eaten, their feathers and skins

Juventud, were made into clothing and the bones

becoming extinct were used for fish hooks and pendants.

in the late 19th

century. Possibly 13c - Great Auk, a

related to the large flightless

Scarlet macaw, it species of penguin

was quite small at (about 30-33 inches

only 18-20 inches tall), living in the long. This bird was traded and hunted by North Atlantic's Great Auk: Bulgaria native Americans, and by Europeans after rocky coasts and 2018 their arrival in the 15th century. It was also islands and was brought to Europe as cage birds and by the believed to be in mid 19th century had become rare due to large numbers in pressure from hunting, trade, and habitat the cold regions of destruction. Iceland, Greenland, Norway, and Great Britain.

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 15

Committee Reports

concerned a series of six species being the if the Society needs Chairman’s Notes Europa 2019 - National Birds for Guernsey. to close have These were also a photographic record always seemed this time provided by Rod Ferbrach and I guess, selfishly, that the highlight for unclear, although featuring the Puffin, Linnet, Bullfinch, we all naturally Goldfinch, Starling and Kingfisher. the last quarter in my philatelic world was hope that it would I think I overlooked an item in the the invitation to speak to the British never ever be March edition of SGM which has had a Thematic Association (BTA) about bird needed. So, series of articles about the stamp stamps. Sadly, although advertised in their following excellent illustrations of David Gentleman. In this own magazine and mentioned in my notes feedback from fourth part (of five), his fine set of stamps for the last issue of Flight (March), I don’t Committee commemorating the 600th Anniversary of think any of our members attended this colleagues, I now need to re-draft that the Abbotsbury Swannery in 1993 were event although I am pleased to report that section into something more concrete. highlighted and I am sure this is a must for one attendee did later sign up as a member Watch this space. most bird stamp collectors, especially if of our society. Graham, as our new forward looking one focuses on UK items. The venue was poignant being the Treasurer then pointed out that the Elsewhere, SGM (May) has the first current premises of the Royal Philatelic Society’s Five Year Plan had now come to part (of two) detailing local GB stamps Society London (RPSL) but from which they an end and that we needed to revise our based on issues, legal or otherwise, for the are scheduled to move to a new office this thinking and develop a new strategy for many islands dotted around our coast. So month. We had a light and airy room on the the future. It may seem like dull financial far this has included (among others) first floor and I was able to display18 frames stuff to members, but, even though our Bernera, Carn Ira, Canna, Herm, Jethou of 12 album pages each totalling 216 pages finances are extremely healthy, we need and Lundy, all of which have some form of of bird stamps from my own collection. to develop a plan for future growth of the bird issues. One’s geographical skills might I chose to show approximately one page Society, develop a better website and be put to the test with the location of some for each country in alphabetical order but secure our financial position. of these islands, but it is interesting to with two frames dedicated to the overall Last year was a bad one for note that many do feature bird stamps and statistics and dimensions of collecting bird membership. Net numbers went down. I will try and elaborate on these in the stamps and one devoted to Cinderella issues Even in previous years whilst they had next issue of Flight. Finally, it may be or other curiosities. The BTA’s own been okay, they were at best just stable, worth mentioning that the May issue of report of this meeting is available in the showing no growth and not attracting SGM also has articles about Mali and the latest issue of their magazine (June). younger members. This year, the numbers British Virgin Island which also provide a Elsewhere, the last joining the Society, whilst still modest, good range of bird stamps. quarter has seen look a little more encouraging, but you

the release of the cannot stand on the spot for long and so a Enjoy the summer and let’s look forward to Great Britain birds new financial plan is now urgently needed. th some long and sunny days. of prey issue on 4 I’ll leave it to Graham to talk through April and the details Tony Statham any future plan when it has been finalised, of this are fully and to Gilly when we have something described in the firmer to say about a new website. For this May edition of scribbler, my role is to build something Stanley Gibbons General into the constitution and then ensure that monthly magazine (SGM). this is shared with you as soon as Further to my brief introduction to this in Secretary’s possible. the last issue of Flight, the SGM article Notes The joys of collecting - One of the confirmed that the illustrations for these downsides of being General Secretary is stamps was based on photographs taken by that sometimes you forget that you are a Tim Flach at the International Centre for The Constitution - collector as well. I jest not! Birds of Prey near Gloucester. Ten species I recently acquired a large accumulation of are featured on two se tenant strips (all first Again - In my last notes I mentioned - or bird stamps from a friend in South Wales. class values) either showing the birds in perhaps went on at some length – the There were some cheap and cheerful close-up or at the moment of striking their changes to the Society’s constitution. issues, some of the usual suspects, some prey. The full list of species is White-tailed Alterations have been made, both large in poor condition; but also a few surprises, (Sea) Eagle (shown above), Merlin, Hobby, and small, but the hardest lesson I have some I had never seen before, some in an Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Kestrel, Goshawk, learnt about this document is that the darn excellent state and many filling gaps in my Sparrowhawk, Red Kite (shown below) and thing never seems to quite go away. Ever. collection. Peregrine Falcon. In one of those ironies of juxtaposition All were hinge mounted and I ended Some members will I have recently needed to consider the up spending a few days – literally days – know that I prefer inclusion of two more clauses: one dealing carefully taking them off paper and then, stamp designs taken with what happens to the Society in the in batches, floating the hinges off because from illustrations but event of termination; the other with future they were welded to each stamp. I have today’s photography growth and the need for a new financial never liked hinges. I use Prinz mounts or allows some superb plan! Who said being General Secretary stock sheets instead. After this experience results. was straightforward let alone logical? The I was prepared to advocate legislation Another recent bits in the constitution about what happens prohibiting their future use! st issue (on 1 April),

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 16

All of this is a long- will now receive an e-mail with winded way of: a .pdf copy Flight attached. The Committee Reports a) Letting off steam and subscription for this facility is the getting a pet hate out of same i.e. £5. the way, but also, more I recently sent an email to all 54 x importantly, b) advising members who currently pay the £5 I had anticipated a charge for the printing that I have a few rate asking if they would prefer an of the listing and this amounted to hundred stamps over email with an attachment. At the time £108.80. The donation, thus far, is from the accumulation. of writing, 30 x members have £255.03. There are still some stamps left If anyone is indicated that they would like to to sell and I have placed most of these interested and wants further information, let transfer to this new method. The into a club book with a further reduction in me know. A small donation to the Society Committee has thus concluded that price. As with any collection there will and covering the costs of postage is all that this new method will come into effect always be some ‘cheap and cheerful’ is required. for our June 2019 issue of Flight. It is, stamps that no-one wants so I have in our opinion, far simpler to open an donated these to a lady in my village who Mel West attachment and save it on your does charity work for ‘Help The Aged’. computer than it is to log onto our This donation gave rise to a couple of website, follow a few simple points that I feel are worthy of mention. instructions, type in password and Membership Secretary’s Firstly at least 3 x members took the then download Flight. A couple of plunge and have since decided how they Notes members who responded to my email should dispose of their collection and have indicated that the download from the incorporated their wishes into their last website was a bit confusing. will and testament. Whilst a rather I am delighted to be able to welcome 2 x I feel it is worth mentioning that morbid subject I suspect that many of us many Organisations/Clubs/Societies new members namely Steven Ardron who have family who have no interest in etc now use attachments to an email joined our Society on 4 May and Erene inheriting our stamp collections and Mary as the de-facto standard for Grieve who joined on 13 May. Other than a Ashworth felt that members of the Society distributing newsletters and the like. couple of changes of address this quarter would benefit more from her stamps than Whilst we will has been relatively quiet and the number of anyone else. always continue members has now increased to 141. Secondly, I am not convinced that with hard copy, Included with Flight is the annual selling on a ‘first come first served’ basis I note that no subscription renewal form. Each year a was the ideal solution. In discussion with members have number of members are sent a renewal other members on the Committee should transferred to reminder in August and again in September a further donation be received then selling the £5 rate in yet never respond. Not only do I find thus via an Auction’ resolves a few issues that I the past 3 x quite rude but it increases my workload and encountered. This in turn, leads to a years and very Society expenditure which should be potential challenge as I doubt that there few new unnecessary. will be many takers to run auctions. If the members have If you do not wish Committee are unable to find someone asked for the to continue your who is willing to put the time and effort website option. Whether or not this is membership then into handling a further donation then we due to the slight complexity of please let me may have to simply say ‘thanks but no accessing the website using a know. You will thanks’. As things stand, I would be happy password I know not. You may wish note that on the to handle a further donation and in order to consider the email rate when it renewal form I to maximise income I would email the comes time for you to renew your have asked auction catalogue to anyone who has subscription. members who email. This would leave about a dozen wish to lapse their Graham Horsman members who would receive a hard copy membership just which I would print off and distribute. to give me a Our bank balance now stands at reason for your Treasurer’s Notes (for £19540.43 and as reported previously decision. As Membership Secretary, I packet vendors are owed approximately maintain a master membership list which period ending 30th April £5000. Vendors will be paid well before only our Flight distributor is privy to. This 2019) the end of this Financial Year. master list has a separate section that records those who leave the Society and the As I had anticipated this quarter has been DECISIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS reason for their leaving. It is only a list of a lot quieter than my first couple of MADE DURING PERIOD. names; all addresses and other contact months. Online banking has enabled me to details are deleted once a member leaves. make payments that much quicker and has The Committee has decided to stop By recording reasons for leaving if we find a saved both me and recipients of payments receiving e-packet commission that was common theme amongst these reasons then the hassle of writing and or banking paid to the Society by Philip Cant. we can look to remedy this. At the end of cheques. Wherever possible I will use the the day if we have no idea why members are online banking system to pay our packet Our 5 year plan leaving then we cannot fix what isn’t bust. vendors. expired at the end

ASHWORTH DONATION - In all there of the last Financial A new method of receiving Flight has were 20 x order forms for stamps from the Year (31 July recently been requested by 2 x Ashworth collection. The total selling price 2018). I have members and granted namely by email as opposed to access via the website. was £440.99 and in all sales amounted to produced a paper Our Editor currently sends members a £363.83. The sales included a donation of that has been sent password for those who access Flight 94p as one member rounded up their to all members of on our website. Instead these members invoice to the next nearest £. the Committee

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 17

Committee Reports

outlining the need for a new plan and this will be discussed in due course. The previous 5 year plan was created as a result of our subscriptions being substantially less than BUZIN WATCH our income. It therefore introduced new subscription rates including the £5 rate for those members who access Flight via the With Mel West website. It is too early to publish any details of what the new plan might include and recommend to the membership so we will be looking to publish a new plan with proposals in our September 2019 Flight magazine. I mentioned in the last Buzin Watch that there would be a

further Buzin appearing in March - a Bearded Reedling - to SUBSCRIPTIONS. follow the Sand Martin that was issued at the beginning of the Renewal of subscriptions falls due on 1 year. And sure enough it arrived on time around the middle of August 2019 and accompanying this issue of that month. The shock was that it was issued at Bpost’s high Flight is the renewal form and instructions RP value in sheetlets of ten stamps at somewhat over £45 per for payment. sheet. If you factored in postage and packaging for the purchase, that equated to roughly £5 per stamp at the barest Graham Horsman minimum price. A lot of dough for a stamp measuring no more than 25mm by 33mm. Or to express it another way, that’s about 1.7 pence per square millimetre!

I said at the, “barest minimum price.” I was lucky enough to obtain a block of four at £20, but the lowest price I have now seen via dealers is £6.50 per stamp or £65 for the sheet of ten. However, some dealers are selling at a far higher price, perhaps close to £11 per stamp and a little over £109 (or even higher) per full sheetlet. I’ll leave you to work out what that comes to per square millimetre. On the plus side, as you can see from the illustration above, it’s still a lovely stamp. If you are a fan of his style like me and a serious Buzin collector, then it is a must have. My next Buzin challenge? Finding all these new issues in good condition used. Who said collecting would/should be easy? Keep Buzzin !!

Coming Up In The Next Edition of Flight ……... Collecting Complexity Returns with Federal Australian KGV Duck Stamps Emu’s

Flightless Birds Europa Bird Update And lots more ! …………………………...

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 18

RECENT NEW BIRDS IN THE PHILATELIC AVIARY

Adapted from articles by Chuck Braun in Biophilately As with the main new issue listing, species numbering follows (Clements 5th edition) and [Howard & Moore 1980] although names reflect Clements 6th edition. (Roger Chapman)

BLACK-BREASTED KITE, SEE-SEE PARTRIDGE, Ammo- Hamirostra melanosternon perdix griseogularis Phasianidae Accipitridae (300150) [30028] (380160) [35052] Tajikistan, Aitutaki, 2018, F33/4 40 c 2018, F33/4, 3 s Length: 20 to 24 inches, sexes Length: 9 to 10 inches, resident. alike, migratory. Dark with The male (shown on the stamp) reddish brown nape and thighs. is sandy brown with brown and Habitat: Woodland, savanna, white flank stripes and a grey plains and desert. Range: Breeds throat; the female lacks the flank in northern and central Australia; stripes. Habitat: Lightly vegetated dry and stony foothills. winters throughout Australia except the southern coasts. Range: South-eastern Turkey to Pakistan. Reference: Ibid. Reference: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott and J. Sargatal, Eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 2. COSTA RICAN PYGMY-OWL, Glaucidium costaricanum LETTER-WINGED KITE, Elanus Strigidae (781260) [73 NEW] scriptus Accipitridae (300220) Cook Islands (Raratonga), [30019] Cook Islands, 2018, 2018, f33/4, 50 c F33/4 $5 Length: 6 inches, sexes alike, Length: 14 to 15 inches, sexes resident. Dark brown above and alike, migratory. Grey above and black-streaked white below with white below with black wing a white-spotted brown head and rich brown sides of the breast. patches, tail and around the eyes. Habitat: Upland forest and adjacent areas. Range: Central Habitat: Dry grasslands and Costa Rica to western Panama. Reference: Ibid f., Volume 5. plains. Range: Breeds in central Australia: winters in central and coastal Australia. Reference: Ibid. CHESTNUT-BACKED OWLET, Glaucidium castanonotum Strigidae AFRICAN MARSH-HARRIER, (781460) [73076] Sri Lanka, 2017, Circus ranivorus Accipitridae F32/4, 10 r (300750) [30075] Aitutaki, Length: 8 inches, sexes alike, 2018, F33/4, $5 resident. Barred chestnut and blackish Length: 48 to 50 inches, sexes above and white below with dark bars alike, resident. Brown with rufous on the breast and flanks and olive- thighs, white face and a streaked brown streaks on the belly white nape. Habitat: Marshes and Habitat: Dense wet forest. Range: Sri adjacent areas. Range: Somalia Lanka. Reference: Ibid. to South Africa. Reference: Ibid GREATER ANTILLEAN NIGHTJAR, MADAGASCAR HARRIER- Antrostomus cubanensis HAWK, Polyboroides radiatus Caprimulgidae (830270) [78024] Accipitridae (300800) [30071] Cuba, 2018, F33/3, 75c Cook Islands, 2018, F33/4, 50 c Length: 10 to 12 inches, resident. The Length: 27 inches sexes alike, male (shown on the stamp) is resident Pale grey above and speckled blackish-brown above and banded white below with black speckled buffish-white below with a wings and a black tail with a pale buff band around the lower throat broad white band. and white tips on the tail; the female Habitat: Forests and woodlands. Range: Madagascar. Reference: has buff tips on the tail. Habitat: Open Ibid. woodland, swamps and rivers. HENST'S GOSHAWK, Accipiter Range: Cuba. Reference: Ibid. henstii Accipitridae (301410) RUFOUS-FRONTED PARAKEET, Bolborhynchus [30089] Aitutaki, 2018, F33/4, Ferrugineifrons Psittacidae (74250) [69188] Colombia, 2018 $2 Label on the upper left of the ‘Endemic Length: 21 to 25 inches, sexes Birds’s sheet listed in F32/4 and added in alike, resident, Greyish-brown this issue. Length: 8 inches, sexes alike, above and greyish-brown-barred resident. Green, paler below and on the white below with a pale stripe rump and rufous around the bill. above the eye. Habitat: Humid mountain scrub and elfin Habitat: Forest and woodland. forest. Range: Central Andes of Range: Madagascar. Reference: Ibid. Colombia. Ref: Ibid Volume 4.

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 19

RECENT NEW BIRDS IN THE PHILATELIC AVIARY

Adapted from articles by Chuck Braun in Biophilately As with the main new issue listing, species numbering follows (Clements 5th edition) and [Howard & Moore 1980] although names reflect Clements 6th edition. (Roger Chapman)

BLUE-THROATED HILLSTAR, SRI LANKA DRONGO, Drongo Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus lophorinus Dicruridae (1800231) Trochilidae (862191) [81 NEW] [168020 s/s] Sri Lanka, 2017, (Species not yet in Clements) F32/4, 35 r Ecuador, 2018, F33/4, $0.75 Length: 12 to 14 inches, sexes alike, Length: 5 inches, resident. The resident. Black with a deeply forked male (shown on the stamp) is tail and a frontal crest, Habitat: Tall, green above and white below dense humid forest. Range: Southern with brown wings, a blue tail, a Sri Lanka. black-bordered blue-throat and a median line on the belly: the Reference: Ibid., Volume 14. female is tan below and lacks the blue throat and median belly line. Habitat: Bush-lined creeks in high mountains. Range: Andes of southwestern Ecuador. Reference: Sermoza-Medina, Francisco, et al., Auk, 135 (4) 2018. GUIRA TANAGER, Hemithraupis SRI LANKA BUSH-WARBLER, guira Thraupidae (2010540) Elaphornis palliseri Locustellidae [157045] Guyana, 2018, F33/3, $200 (1400410) [136034] Sri Lanka, 2018, Length:5 inches, resident. The male f32/4, 15 r (shown on the stamp) is olive-green Length: 6 inches, sexes similar, resident. above and with a yellow-bordered dark Olive-brown above and olive below with a sooty-brown face, rich tawny-rufous pale supercilium, gray lores and a peach- breast and a grey-flanked yellow buff throat. Habitat: Grassy areas with belly; the female is olive-green above bamboo and wet mountain forest. Range: and yellow below with grey flanks. Southern Sri Lanka. Habitat: Forest canopy and woodland. Reference: Ibid., Volume 11. Range: Colombia to north-western Argentina. Reference: Ibid., Volume 16.

SILVER-THROATED TANAGER, Tangara icterocephala Thraupidae (20120100 [157181] Guyana, 2018, F33/3, $200 Length: 5 inches, sexes similar, resident. Yellow with a black-streaked back, silvery greenish-white throat and a black moustachial stripe. WHITE-CAPPED REDSTART, Habitat: Wet forest and second-growth Phoenicurus leucocephalus Muscicapidae (142200) {130096] woodland. Range: Southern Costa Tajikistan, 2918, F32/4, 5 s Rica to western Ecuador. Length: 7 inches, sexes alike, migratory. Black above and orange- Reference: Ibid., Volume 16. chestnut below and tail with a white cap. Habitat: Breeds along mountain streams; winters near rivers and canals. Range: Breeds SPECKLED TANAGER, Tangara from eastern Uzbekistan to eastern China and northern Myanmar; guttata Thraupidae (2012070) winters from Tajikistan to central China and northern Thailand. [157187] Guyana, 2018, F33/3, $500 Reference: Ibid., Volume 10. Length: 5 inches, sexes similar, resident, Green above and white below TAHITI MONARCH, Pomarea nigra with black spots on the head, back and Monarchidae (1450310) [140033] breast and black lores. French Polynesia, 2018, F33/4, 80 f Habitat: Humid forest and adjacent Length: 6 inches, sexes alike, resident. areas. Range: Costa Rica to the All metallic black with a blue bill. Guianas. Habitat: Moist forest. Range: Western Reference: Ibid., Volume 16. Tahiti. Reference: Ibid., Volume 11.

Many thanks to Roger Chapman for continually providing all the information each quarter for these updates

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 20

NEW LISTINGS CLEMENTS 5th edition (C5) numbering but with names from CLEMENTS 6th edition (C6) where different

NEW ISSUE LISTING Clements . H&M

AITUTAKI 27.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 12. Sheet with white frame and sheet with no frame. 20c Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata 30199 30c Pearl Kite Gampsonyx swainsonii 30015 40c Black-breasted Kite Hamirostra melanosternum 30028 50c Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus 30032 $1 Oriental Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus 30011 $2 Henst's Goshawk Accipiter henstii 30089 $2.40 Common Black Hawk Buteogallus anthracinus 30151 $2.60 Double-toothed Kite Harpagus bidentatus 30023 $4.50 Crowned Eagle Buteogallus coronatus 30156 $5 Black Kite Milvus migrans 30029 African Marsh-Harrier Circus ranivorus 30075 $7.50 White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster 30033 $10 Pacific Baza Aviceda subcristata 30004 AITUTAKI 27.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6 with part frames. 20c Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata 30199 30c Pearl Kite Gampsonyx swainsonii 30015 40c Black-breasted Kite Hamirostra melanosternum 30028 50c Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus 30032 $1 Oriental Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus 30011 $2 Henst's Goshawk Accipiter henstii 30089 AITUTAKI 27.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6 with part frames. $2.40 Common Black Hawk Buteogallus anthracinus 30151 $2.60 Double-toothed Kite Harpagus bidentatus 30023 $4.50 Crowned Eagle Buteogallus coronatus 30156 $5 Black Kite Milvus migrans 30029 African Marsh-Harrier Circus ranivorus 30075 $7.50 White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster 30033 $10 Pacific Baza Aviceda subcristata 30004 ARGENTINA Tierra del Fuego. 1 of set of 4. 180p 70030 Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua ARUBA 31.10.18 Pets. 1 of set of 6. 500c Rosy-faced Lovebird Agapornis roseicollis 69094 Fischer's Lovebird Agapornis fischeri 69095 Yellow-collared Lovebird Agapornis personatus 69096 AUSTRALIA 2018 Collection. Finches of Australia. Sheet of 7. $1 1930700 Beautiful Firetail Stagonopleura bella $1 1930960 Gouldian Finch Erythrura gouldiae $1 1930790 Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata $1 1930760 Star Finch Neochmia ruficauda $1 1930800 Double-barred Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii $1 1930880 Blue-faced Parrotfinch Erythrura trichroa $1 1930830 Black-throated Finch Poephilia cincta AUSTRALIA 5.3.19 Australian fauna. 1 of set of 4 & 1 of sheet of 4. Also in booklet & coil. $1 Galah Eolophus roseicapilla 68006 AZERBAIJAN 27.12.18 Gara-Yaz state reserve. 5 of sheet of 6. 2m 1041040 White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos 99098 2m 1900650 European Starling Sturnus vulgaris 3m 1381100 Eurasian Blackbird Turdus merula 3m Ring-Necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus 35189 6m 1900840 Hildebrandt's Starling Lamprotornis hildebrandti There are other unidentified birds in this issue. BELARUS Bird of the year. 1v. P Greater Spotted Eagle Clanga clanga 30191

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 21

NEW LISTINGS (2)

BELGIUM 1v. * 1230330 Bank (Sand) Swallow (Martin) Riparia riparia BELGIUM 1v. RP 1510010 Bearded Reedling Panurus biarmicus BEQUIA 7.2,19 Hummingbirds. Sheet of 3. $4 Red-billed Streamertail Trochilus polytmus 81125 $5 Vervain Hummingbird Mellisuga minima 81306 $6 Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga helenae 81309 BEQUIA 7.2,19 Hummingbirds. Sheet of 2. $7 Blue-headed Hummingbird Cyanophaia bicolor 81103 $9 Green-throated Carib Eulampis holosericeus 81067 BRAZIL Friendship with Guyana. 1v. 1r85 Hoatzin Opisthocomus hoazin 36001 BRAZIL Rio de Janeiro national museum. 1 of set of 2. 3r10 Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja 30186 BULGARIA 19.10.18 Extinct species. 1 of sheet of 4. As F33/3 but sheet Overprinted 'IFP' or 'BUCOLLECTO'. 2l 5700 Great Auk Pinguinis impennis BULGARIA 1.2.19 Via Pontica bird migratory route. Set of 4. Also in sheet of 4 and sheet with 2 sets of 4. 0.65l 90120 Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus 1l Little Egret Egretta garzetta 20047 1l50 Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus 15001 2l Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmaeus 17031 CANADA 24.10.18 Centenary of the Armistice. Self-adhesive & ordinary gum. Also in booklet. P (85c) Barbed wire & Peace Dove Columba livia 66000 CHILE Exfil 2018. 1v. Add to MS listed in F33/3. 360p Andean Condor Vultur gryphus 28007 CHINA (TAIWAN) Dongsha Atoll national park. 1 of set of 4. $28 White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus 43098 COLOMBIA Endemic birds. Sheet of 12 + 2 labels, listed in F32/4. Label in top left Rufous-fronted Parakeet Bolborhynchus ferrugineifrons 69188 COOK ISLANDS 20.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 12. Sheet with white frame and sheet with no frame. 20c Swamp Harrier Circus approximans 30c Bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus 30062 40c Eurasian Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium passerinum 73065 50c Madagascar Harrier-Hawk Polyboroides radiatus 30071 $1 Barn Owl Tyto alba 72002 $2 Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis 30095 $2.40 Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus 30046 $2.60 Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus 30200 $4.50 Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus 30031 Great Egret Ardea alba 20049 $5 Letter-winged Kite Elanus scriptus 30019 $7.50 Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus 30044 $10 Barking Owl Ninox connivens 73083 COOK ISLANDS 20.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6 with part frames. 20c Swamp Harrier Circus approximans 30c Bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus 30062 40c Eurasian Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium passerinum 73065 50c Madagascar Harrier-Hawk Polyboroides radiatus 30071 $1 Barn Owl Tyto alba 72002 $2 Japanese Sparrowhawk Accipiter gularis 30095

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 22

NEW LISTINGS (3)

COOK ISLANDS 20.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6 with part frames. $2.40 Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus 30046 $2.60 Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus 30200 $4.50 Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus 30031 Great Egret Ardea alba 20049 $5 Letter-winged Kite Elanus scriptus 30019 $7.50 Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus 30044 $10 Barking Owl Ninox connivens 73083 CZECH REPUBLIC 24.10.18 Martinmas tradition. 1v. A (19k) Cartoon Domestic Duck ECUADOR 24.10.16 Intisana school. 1v. $2 Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus 30038 ECUADOR Domestic animals. 2 of set of 8. 25c Domestic Duck 25c Domestic Rooster Gallus gallus 35000 ECUADOR 11.12.19 San Francisco de Quito University. 2 of sheet of 9. $0.50 2023090 Large Ground-Finch Geospiza magnirostris $0.75 (not in Clements) Blue-throated Hillstar Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus 81NEW ECUADOR 27.12.18 Cotacachi-Cayapas. 2 of set of 5. $3 90150 Silvery Grebe Podiceps occipitalis $3 1160210 White-crested Elaenia Elaenia albiceps ECUADOR 27.12.18 Cotacachi-Cayapas. 3 of self-adhesive booklet of 8. $0.50 Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle Geranoaetus melanoleucus 30158 $0.50 2011400 Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager Anisognathus igniventris $0.75 Black-breasted Puffleg Eriocnemis nigrivestis 81239 ETHIOPIA 2018 5v. 40c White-bellied Go-away-bird Corythaixoides leucogaster 70006 50c Long-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus climacurus 78067 60c Dusky Turtle-Dove Streptopelia lugens 66053 2b 1010570 Black-billed Barbet Lybius guifsobalito 3b 1010440 Red-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus pusillus 96052 FALKLAND ISLANDS 4.3.19 Shipwrecks. 2 of set of 4. £1.01 Magellanic Cormorant Phalacrocorax magellanicus 17015 Imperial Cormorant Phalacrocorax atriceps £1.22 Falkland Steamerduck Tachyeres brachypterus 27048 FAROE ISLANDS Centenary of end of WW1. 1 of 4 in ms. 10k in ms Peace Dove Columba livia 66000 FAROE ISLANDS EUROPA. 2v. 19k & 26k (diff.) Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle 64005 FAROE ISLANDS EUROPA. Self-adhesive booklet. 19k Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle 64005 FRENCH ANTARCTIC 1.1.19 1v. 2€ Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes 11052 FRENCH ANTARCTIC 1.1.19 1v. 2€ White Tern Gygis alba 62089 FRENCH ANTARCTIC 1.1.19 Tromelin. 2v. In sheet. 2 @ 0.95€ different Masked Booby Sula dactylatra 16007 FRENCH ANTARCTIC Penguins. 3v. 'Postes 2019' reprint of 2018 (F33/1). 0.10€ 70090 Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes chrysocome 0.20€ 70010 King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus 0.30€ 70030 Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua FRENCH ANTARCTIC Gentoo Penguin. 1v. 1€ 70030 Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua FRENCH POLYNESIA Endangered species. 2v. 10f Tahiti Petrel Pseodobulweria rostrata 11014 80f 1450310 Tahiti Monarch Pomarea nigra

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 23

NEW LISTINGS (4)

GAMBIA 31.12.18 Eagles. Sheet of 6. 55d African Fish-Eagle Haliaeetus vocifer 30035 55d Brown Snake-Eagle Circaetus cinereus 30059 65d African Hawk-Eagle Aquila spilogaster 65d Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus 30200 75d Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus 30218 75d Long-crested Eagle Lophaetus occipitalis 30205 GAMBIA 31.12.18 Tawny Eagle. Sheet of 4. 90,95,100 & 105d (diff.) Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax 30192 GAMBIA Sunbirds. Sheet of 6 + MS. 45d 1660680 Beautiful Sunbird Cinnyris pulchellus 55d 1660170 Collared Sunbird Hedydipna collaris 65d 1660390 Scarlet-chested Sunbird Chalcomitra senegalensis 75d 1660260 Orange-breasted Sunbird Anthobathes violacea 85d 1660700 Mariqua Sunbird Cinnyris mariquensis 95d 1660870 White-breasted Sunbird Cinnyris talatala 250d MS 1660260 Orange-breasted Sunbird Anthobathes violacea GIBRALTAR 5.2.19 EUROPA. 2v. + Sheet of 2. 2 @ £1.66 (diff.) Barbary Partridge Alectoris barbara 35065 In sheet surrounds Barbary Partridge Alectoris barbara 35065 GRENADA 1.2.19 Parrots. 1v. 50c Golden-capped Parakeet Aratinga auricapillus 69149 GREN. OF GRENADA Wood Stork. Sheet of 6. $1,2,3,4,5 & 6 (diff.) Wood Stork Mycteria americana 23001 GUERNSEY 1.4.19 National birds. Set of 6. Also in souvenir sheet. 48p Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica 64020 65p 1960690 Eurasian Linnet Carduelis cannabina 66p 1961170 Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula 80p 1960660 European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis 90p 1900650 European Starling Sturnus vulgaris 98p Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 84011 In sheet surrounds Long-eared Owl Asio otus 73123 GUERNSEY 1.4.19 EUROPA. Sheet of 2. 65p 1960690 Eurasian Linnet Carduelis cannabina 80p 1960660 European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis GUYANA Valerie Rodway. 1 of sheet of 4. $100 Hoatzin Opisthocomus hoazin 36001 ICELAND EUROPA. 2v. Self-adhesive. * White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla 30039 * Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus 32056 IRELAND EUROPA. 2v. N Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii 62061 W European Golden-Plover Pluvialis apricaria 57025 ISLE OF MAN Wildlife. 3 of block of 10. 1st Northern Gannet Morus bassanus 16001 1st Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 84011 EU 1422230 European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola ISLE OF MAN Wildlife. 2 of 2 sets of 5 in self-adhesive booklet. 1st Northern Gannet Morus bassanus 16001 1st Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 84011 ISLE OF MAN EUROPA. Wildlife. Sheet of 10. 10 @ EU & surrounds 1422230 European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 24

NEW LISTINGS (5)

ISRAEL 5.3.19 Birds in Israel. 5v. * European Roller Coracias garrulus 88001 * Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 84011 * Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Merops persicus 87018 * Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis 87015 * European Bee-eater Merops apiaster 87021 JAPAN Spring greeting. 1 of set of 5. Self-adhesive. 62y 1421420 Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus JAPAN Anniversary. 1 of set of 2. 82y Red-crowned (Manchurian) Crane Grus japonensis 40005 JAPAN Fauna & flora. 3 of sheet of 10. Self-adhesive. 82y 1421420 Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus 82y 1420820 Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelaena 82y 1370010 Alpine Accentor Prunella collaris JERSEY 5.3.19 Set of 6. 50p Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 32028 55p 1230470 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 76p EUROPA Mute Swan Cygnus olor 27010 82p Indian (Common) Peafowl Pavo cristatus 35202 94p EUROPA Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 84011 £1.12 White Stork Ciconia ciconia 23011 JERSEY 5.3.19 EUROPA. Sheet of 2. 76p EUROPA Mute Swan Cygnus olor 27010 94p EUROPA Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 84011 LATVIA Museum exhibit. 1v. 1.57€ 1240020 White Wagtail Motacilla alba LATVIA EUROPA. 2v. 0.78€ & 1.71€ (diff.) 1240020 White Wagtail Motacilla alba LIBERIA 31.12.18 National bird of liberia. Sheet of 4v. $100,200,300&400 (diff.) 1260170 Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus LIBERIA Sheet of 2. $400 & $500 1480010 White-necked Rockfowl Picathartes gymnocephalus LIBERIA Sheet of 4. $250, 300, 350 & 400 Marabou Stork Leptoptilos crumenifer 23017 LIBERIA Sheet of 3. $200, 300 & 400 African Open-bill Anastomus lamelligerus 23006 LIECHTENSTEIN 4.3.19 EUROPA. 2v. 2 @ 1f50 (diff.) Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos 30196 MALAWI Vultures. Sheet of 6. 700k Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotos 30054 700k White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis 30047 700k Aegypius monachus 30055 700k White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus 30048 700k Rueppell's Griffon Gyps rueppelli 30050 700k Eurasian Griffon Gyps fulvus 30052 In surrounds Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus 30046 MALAWI Vultures. 5MS. 450k MS Aegypius monachus 30055 450k MS White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus 30048 450k MS White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis 30047 450k MS Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotos 30054 450k MS Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus 30046

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 25

NEW LISTINGS (6)

MARSHALL ISLANDS 21.12.18 Owls. Sheet of 6. 50c Striped Owl Pseudoscops clamator 73122 75c Barred Owl Strix varia 73116 $1 Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus 73127 $1.25 Rufous-legged Owl Strix rufipes 73118 $1.50 & surrounds Great Gray Owl Strix nebulosa 73121 $1.75 Long-eared Owl Asio otus 73123 NEW ZEALAND 28.11.18 Round Kiwi. Thailand 2018. Sheet of 3. $1.20 50012 North Island Kiwi Apteryx mantelli $1.20 50030 Great Spotted Kiwi Apteryx haastii $2.40 50020 Little Spotted Kiwi Apteryx owenii NEW ZEALAND 28.11.18 Predator free. Thailand 2018. Sheet of 3. $1.20 Great Egret Ardea alba 20049 Sacred Kingfisher Todiramphus sanctus 84067 Blue Duck Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos 27062 $1.20 1731740 Tui Prosthemadura novaeseelandiae 1810020 South Island Saddleback Philesturnus carunculatus 1730990 Stitchbird Notiomystis cincta $3 1470010 Whitehead Mohoua albicilla Red-fronted Parakeet Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae 69063 1460140 Tomtit Petroica macrocephala 1460190 New Zealand Robin Petroica australis NIUAFO'OU 18.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 12. Sheet with white frame and sheet with no frame. 5c Black-banded Owl Ciccaba huhula 73107 10c Powerful Owl Ninox strenua 73082 $1.40 Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus 30218 $2.30 Great Gray Owl Strix nebulosa 73121 $2.50 Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus 30109 $2.80 Jungle Owlet Glaucidium radiatum 73075 $4.30 Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus 30058 $5.20 Minahassa Masked-Owl Tyto inexpectata 72005 $6.90 Gray-headed Fish-Eagle Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus 30042 $9.30 White-eyed Buzzard Butastur teesa 30138 $9.50 Eurasian Marsh-Harrier Circus aeruginosus 30074 $11.50 African Hawk-Eagle Aquila spilogaster NIUAFO'OU 18.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6. Sheet with part frames. 5c Black-banded Owl Ciccaba huhula 73107 10c Powerful Owl Ninox strenua 73082 $1.40 Martial Eagle Polemaetus bellicosus 30218 $2.30 Great Gray Owl Strix nebulosa 73121 $2.50 Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus 30109 $2.80 Jungle Owlet Glaucidium radiatum 73075 NIUAFO'OU 18.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6. Sheet with part frames. $4.30 Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus 30058 $5.20 Minahassa Masked-Owl Tyto inexpectata 72005 $6.90 Gray-headed Fish-Eagle Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus 30042 $9.30 White-eyed Buzzard Butastur teesa 30138 $9.50 Eurasian Marsh-Harrier Circus aeruginosus 30074 $11.50 African Hawk-Eagle Aquila spilogaster PALAU 19.12.18 Nicobar Pigeon. Sheet of 4. 2 @ $1 & 2 @ $2 (diff.) Nicobar Pigeon Caloenas nicobarica 66152 PALAU 19.12.18 Nicobar Pigeon. Sheet of 2. 2 @ $3 (diff.) Nicobar Pigeon Caloenas nicobarica 66152

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 26

NEW LISTINGS (7)

PALAU 19.12.18 Beautiful birds. Sheet of 6. 25c 1931100 Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata 50c Slaty-legged Crake Rallina eurizonoides 43049 75c Red-legged Crake Rallina fasciata 43048 $1 1240100 WesternYellow Wagtail Motacilla flava $1.50 Nicobar Pigeon Caloenas nicobarica 66152 $2 1450790 Palau Flycatcher Myiagra erythrops PALAU 19.12.18 Beautiful birds. Sheet of 4. 50c Buff-banded Rail Gallirallus philippensis 43025 $1 1730350 Micronesian Myzomela Myzomela rubratra $2 1730350 Micronesian Myzomela Myzomela rubratra $3 Buff-banded Rail Gallirallus philippensis 43025 PALAU 19.12.18 Beautiful birds. MS. $4 MS 1710260 Caroline Islands White-eye Zosterops semperi PALAU 27.12.18 Pacific waterfowl. Sheet 1 of 6v. 50c Eurasian Teal Anas crecca 27072 75c Eurasian Teal Anas crecca 27072 $1 Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope 27066 $1.25 Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope 27066 $1.50 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 27079 $1.75 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 27079 PALAU 27.12.18 Pacific waterfowl. Sheet 2 of 6v. 50c Northern Pintail Anas acuta 27087 75c Northern Pintail Anas acuta 27087 $1 Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata 27099 $1.25 Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata 27099 $1.50 Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula 27115 $1.75 Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula 27115 PENRHYN ISLAND 27.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 12. Sheet with white frame and sheet with no frame. 20c Secretary-bird Sagittarius serpentarius 31001 30c White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla 30039 40c European Honey-buzzard Pernis apivoris 30010 50c Black-shouldered Kite Elanus axillaris 30018 $1 Swallow-tailed Kite Elanoides forficatus 30013 $2 Osprey Pandion haliaeetus 29001 $2.40 Snail Kite Rostrhamus sociabilis 30021 $2.60 Pallas's Fish-Eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus 30037 $4.50 Steller's Sea-Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus 30040 $5 Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus 30038 $7.50 Black Kite Milvus migrans 30029 $10 Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus 30045 PENRHYN ISLAND 27.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6. Sheet with part frames. 20c Secretary-bird Sagittarius serpentarius 31001 30c White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla 30039 40c European Honey-buzzard Pernis apivoris 30010 50c Black-shouldered Kite Elanus axillaris 30018 $1 Swallow-tailed Kite Elanoides forficatus 30013 $2 Osprey Pandion haliaeetus 29001

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 27

NEW LISTINGS (8)

PENRHYN ISLAND 27.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6. Sheet with part frames. $2.40 Snail Kite Rostrhamus sociabilis 30021 $2.60 Pallas's Fish-Eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus 30037 $4.50 Steller's Sea-Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus 30040 $5 Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus 30038 $7.50 Black Kite Milvus migrans 30029 $10 Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus 30045 PERU 9.2.18 Chinese new year. 2v. 2 @ 10s – different Domestic Rooster Gallus gallus 35000 RAROTONGA 20.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 12. Sheet with white frame and sheet with no frame. 20c Pale Chanting-Goshawk Melierax canorus 30084 30c Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus 73041 40c Eurasian Eagle-Owl Bubo bubo 73042 50c Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium costaricanum $1 Jackal Buzzard Buteo rufofuscus 30184 $2 Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus 30077 $2.40 Eastern Marsh-Harrier Circus spilonotus $2.60 Long-winged Harrier Circus buffoni 30082 $4.50 Asian Barred Owlet Glaucidium cuculoides 73076 $5 Crested Eagle Morphnus guianensis 30185 $7.50 Lesser Spotted Eagle Clanga pomarina 30190 $10 White-browed Owl Athene supercilliaris 73087 RAROTONGA 20.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6. Sheet with part frames. 20c Pale Chanting-Goshawk Melierax canorus 30084 30c Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus 73041 40c Eurasian Eagle-Owl Bubo bubo 73042 50c Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium costaricanum $1 Jackal Buzzard Buteo rufofuscus 30184 $2 Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus 30077 RAROTONGA 20.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6. Sheet with part frames. $2.40 Eastern Marsh-Harrier Circus spilonotus $2.60 Long-winged Harrier Circus buffoni 30082 $4.50 Asian Barred Owlet Glaucidium cuculoides 73076 $5 Crested Eagle Morphnus guianensis 30185 $7.50 Lesser Spotted Eagle Clanga pomarina 30190 $10 White-browed Owl Athene supercilliaris 73087 RUMANIA A European treasure. 2 of set of 6 & 2 of sheet of 6. 3l Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmaeus 17031 Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus 15001 12l Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos 30196 RUSSIA New year greetings. 1v. Self-adhesive 22r 1961170 Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula RUSSIA EUROPA. National bird. 1v. 45r Siberian Crane Antigone leucogeranus 40010 SAN MARINO EUROPA. 2v. 1.10€ Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 32060 1.15€ Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 32060 SLOVENIA Chinese new year. 1v. 1.15€ Domestic Rooster Gallus gallus 35000 SPAIN 1.2.19 Badajoz. 1v. Self-adhesive. A White Stork Ciconia ciconia 23011 ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON 1v. 1.05€ 1990350 Bay-breasted Warbler Setophaga castanea

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 28

NEW LISTINGS (9)

ST. VINCENT 7.2.19 Hummingbirds of the Caribbean. Sheet of 6 + MS. $1 Rufous-breasted Hermit Glaucis hirsutus 81007 $2 Antillean Crested Hummingbird Orthorhyncus cristatus 81069 $3 Puerto Rican Emerald Chlorostilbon maugaeus 81095 $4 Antillean Mango Anthracothorax dominicus 81062 $5 Antillean Crested Hummingbird Orthorhyncus cristatus 81069 $6 Blue-headed Hummingbird Cyanophaia bicolor 81103 $10 MS Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga helenae 81309 SURINAM 27.12.18 Nature. 7 MS. X MS 1020390 White-throated Toucan Ramphastos tucanus 98032 $5 MS Green-tailed Jacamar Galbula galbula 94011 $5 MS 2012390 Black-faced Dacnis Dacnis lineata $5 MS Fork-tailed Woodnymph Thalurania furcata 81104 $5 MS Black-banded Owl Ciccaba huhula 73107 $5 MS 1000290 Black Nunbird Monasa atra 95028 $5 MS Black-tailed Trogon Trogon melanurus 83011 SYRIA 18.12.18 Set of 5. £400 European Bee-eater Merops apiaster 87021 £400 Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus 57001 £400 1740120 Eurasian Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus £400 1402600 Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla £400 Spur-winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus 57003 TAJIKISTAN 15.12.18 Nature reserve. Sheet of 2 sets of 3 of 4. 3s See-see Partridge Ammoperdix griseogularix 35052 5s 1401670 White-browed Tit-Warbler Leptopoecile sophiae 1422000 White-capped Redstart Phoenicurus leucocephalus 5s40 1380240 Blue Whistling-Thrush Myiophoneus caeruleus Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 30176 TONGA 18.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 12. Sheet with white frame and sheet with no frame. 5c Bat Hawk Machierhamphus alcinus 30014 10c White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus 30016 $1.40 Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus 30017 $2.30 Madagascar Fish-Eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides 30036 $2.50 Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis 30006 $2.80 Lesser Fish-Eagle Ichthyophaga humilis 30041 $4.30 Besra Accipiter virgatus 30096 $5.20 Jerdon's Baza Aviceda jerdoni 30003 $6.90 Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes 30005 $9.30 African Cuckoo-Hawk Aviceda cuculoides 30001 $9.50 Dark Chanting-Goshawk Melierax metabates 30083 $11.50 Scissor-tailed Kite Chelictinia riocourii 30020 TONGA 18.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6. Sheet with part frames. 5c Bat Hawk Machierhamphus alcinus 30014 10c White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus 30016 $1.40 Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus 30017 $2.30 Madagascar Fish-Eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides 30036 $2.50 Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis 30006 $2.80 Lesser Fish-Eagle Ichthyophaga humilis 30041 TONGA 18.12.18 Birds of prey. Sheet of 6. Sheet with part frames. 5c Besra Accipiter virgatus 30096 10c Jerdon's Baza Aviceda jerdoni 30003 $1.40 Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes 30005 $2.30 African Cuckoo-Hawk Aviceda cuculoides 30001 $2.50 Dark Chanting-Goshawk Melierax metabates 30083 $2.80 Scissor-tailed Kite Chelictinia riocourii 30020

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 29

NEW LISTINGS (10)

TUNISIA 18.12.18 Fauna. 1 of set of 4 1d 1890640 Eurasian Magpie Pica pica UKRAINE 24.12.18 Sumy region. 1 of sheet of 4. 7h Boreal (Tengmalm's) Owl Aegolius funereus 73131 UZBEKISTAN 23.11.18 Fauna. 1 of set of 4 2700s 1960180 Common Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus VATICAN CITY Gioachino Rossini. 1v. 2.40€ 1890640 Eurasian Magpie Pica pica VATICAN CITY Saints Adeodato & Zosimo. 1 of set of 2. 1.15€ 1960660 European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis WALLIS & FUTUNA Conservation of mangroves. 2 of set of 4. 115f Red-footed Booby Sula sula 16008 115f Pacific Reef-Heron Egretta sacra 20043 7.2.19 Flamingos. Sheet of 4 + MS. $4,5,6 &7 (diff.) & $10 MS American Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber 25001 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// POSTAL STATIONERY (Birds identified are always on stamp imprint) /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// BULGARIA 2019 Cover. 0.65l 90120 Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus FINLAND 2017 Postcard. Post paid 1961170 Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula GERMANY 2016 Large cover. 70c Greylag Goose Anser anser 27020 GERMANY 2018 Cover. Nature museum Berlin. 45c Eurasian Scops-Owl Otus scops 73009 25c Red-bearded Bee-eater Nyctiornis amicttus 87001 JAPAN 2013 Postcard. 50+5 small panel on stamp Red-crowned (Manchurian) Crane Grus japonensis 40005 SWITZERLAND 2018 Large cover. 85c Long-eared Owl Asio otus 73123 IDENTIFICATION PARADE

All members are invited to write to me on any point concerning the identification or description of new issues no matter how tentative their judgment may be; confirmation is sought especially for alternative identifications in the ‘CORRECTIONS’ section and all those in the ‘QUERIES’ section of this feature as well as for identifications marked with a ‘?’ in the New Issue listing. Corrections are expressed in terms of Clements 5th edition (C5) no matter what reference numbers and names are used by the contributors. I continue to refer also to Howard & Moore (1980) (HM) numbers. Roger Chapman

CORRECTIONS

ISSUE COUNTRY VALUE NUMBER IDENTIFICATION SOURCE

F31/4 PERU 10.1.17 5s (C%) 790010 OILBIRD (HM) 74001 Steatornis caripensis Delete - non-existent

F33/1 MARSHALL ISLANDS 17.5.18 Seabirds of the Pacific. Two values @ 58c should be 50c

F33/3 CUBA 4.11.18 65c (C5) YELLOW ORIOLE, (HM) Icterus nigrogularis Correction (C5) Hispaniolan Oriole, (HM) Icterus dominicensis KS

NEW ISSUE LISTING - LISTING POLICY With effect from 2017 issues, FLIGHT will no longer list stamps from the following Stamperija countries: Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Maldive Islands, Mozambique, Niger, St. Thomas & Prince Islands (Sao Tome), Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands & Togo. Stamperija has legal contracts with these countries, but the number of stamps produced is considered too large. This is a private decision and follows the line taken by Kjell Scharning in AVES magazine and his website (http:// www.birdtheme.org) . Members wishing to know about these issues can refer to Kjell’s website Country list, where they are summarised. This reduction in service is regretted but the load represented by these issues has become impractical.

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 30

Subscription Renewal Reminder

PLEASE NOTE: This form is only presented here for display and reference purposes. You can use the form enclosed with the magazine for renewing your membership.

Subscription Year: 1st August 2019 - 31st JULY 2020

For the following options there is no need to send this form back:

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March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 31

Stamps for Sale

PAULA CANT STAMPS

THEMATICS & NEW ISSUE SERVICE

Visit Our Online Shop at

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Basingstoke I can offer good quality, mint, post-1945 Polish bird stamps - most issues available. RG22 4PE These are not for sale, but to exchange for 01256 sets of animals on stamps from any country.

415699 If you are interested, please contact Przemyslaw Kuchcicki via:- [email protected]

We Specialise in Bird Stamps

We offer a new issues service. Please contact us to discuss our requirements, or if you would like us to forward you a copy of our latest list that details our current stock, including special offers and many scarce items. At Philatelic Supplies all our bird stamps feature on a comprehensive 68 page stock list. For 35 years we have supplied customers with new and recent birds on stamps. Our birds list is strongest in issues from the last 20 years, but it does cover every country.

M.B.O’Neill Philatelic Supplies 22 Field Lane Letchworth Garden City Herts SG6 3LE

Tel: 01462 684191 Fax: 01462 684191 E-mail: [email protected] Website: ww.philatelicsupplies.co.uk

Printed by Bulpitt Print Ltd: Unit P, Hunting Gate, East Portway, Andover SP10 3SJ

March 2019 Vol. 33 No. 4 Flight 32