Four protected birds in Croatia grace new commemorative stamps

(Image: Croatian Put up)

ZAGREB, July 26, 2022 – On July 27, 2022, Croatian Submit will place into circulation new commemorative postage stamps with the motif of guarded bird species that live, amid others, in Croatia.

The stamps exhibit goldfinches, Eurasian eagle-owls, flat-billed sandpipers and kingfishers. 

The circulation of stamps is 30,000 copies for each motif in popular sheets of 16 stamps. The writer of the stamps is Sabina Rešić, a designer from Zagreb.  

With the stamps, Croatian Publish participates for the initially time in the entire world philatelic exhibition Birdpex, which is focused to chicken-themed exhibits. This yr the occasion will be held in Austria.

(Image: Croatian Write-up)

The textual content down below on the occasion of the release of new commemorative stamps is created by Davor Ćiković, scientific affiliate of the Institute of Ornithology, HAZU.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

(Image: Croatian Put up)

In late autumn, when the lawns get rid of their green freshness and transform an unsightly brown, we can see flocks of goldfinches on them, checking out the seed-prosperous heads of gorse and goldfinches, and with their cheerful pink and yellow colours of their robes and joyful chirping, they enliven the landscape that is making ready to tumble into winter season snooze. 

Feeding on seeds from the cap-like bouquets of goldfinch and strička (Carduus is the scientific title for plants from the stričak genus) is similarly dependable for the Croatian, as effectively as for the scientific name of these birds.

The goldfinch is a widespread and repeated hen species. They nest in trees around open forests and forest edges, orchards, parks and other open habitats with trees – most normally near human settlements.

They are partial migrants: the section of the inhabitants that migrates mainly winters in the Mediterranean, and aspect of the inhabitants are tenants. In Croatia, goldfinches can be observed and listened to in our vicinity all year spherical, and in winter they are generally observed going to chicken feeders.

They are acknowledged for their extremely stunning chirping, and they are vocalised all calendar year round, typically in the spring. Men and women appreciate them because of their lovely chirping and colourful plumage, so goldfinches are normally held in cages as decorative birds.

In the earlier, people today frequently caught goldfinches in the wild to provide them, and killed several of them in the course of action. Thankfully, wild birds are not permitted to be caught these days, and only farmed birds are authorized in cages. In addition to the dark facet of the marriage involving individuals and goldfinches, there is also a somewhat more stunning just one – goldfinches are a recurrent motif in artwork.

They are hence generally uncovered in Renaissance paintings, for example, Raphael’s Madonna with Goldfinch, but they are also a motif in songs, as in Vivaldi’s Goldfinch, a concerto for flute and orchestra.

Flat-billed sandpiper (Calidris falcinellus)

(Image: Croatian Post)

The flat-billed sandpiper belongs to a fairly massive group of little to medium-sized birds named murres, also known as woodpeckers, and they are characterised by long legs and beaks tailored to a way of living alongside muddy shoals and sandy shores.

They feed on invertebrates hidden in mud or sand. Thanks to the relatively low representation of such habitats in Croatia, these birds are not especially numerous in our nation, even though on the northern coasts of the European continent they are frequent and are living in huge flocks. They are known as exceptional fliers who fly wonderful distances on their migratory journeys.

This minimal cosmopolitan spends about one particular thirty day period in the spring and about two months in the tumble to vacation involving the breeding grounds and the wintering grounds, which is extra than 6,000 km. They will use the remaining 3 months of the 12 months for nesting and promptly increasing three to four cubs in the course of the brief arctic summertime.

Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) 

(Image: Croatian Put up)

Of the 13 species of owls that stay in Europe, as many as 10 of them nest in Croatia, and the Eurasian eagle-owl is the premier among them. It is one of the most significant owls in the entire world and among the the the very least picky when it comes to picking its habitat, nesting web-site and food plan.

The Croatian identify – Sova ušara- of this species arrives from the feathered ears, which do not have an auditory function, looking at that the ears, that is, the ear canals, are positioned much decreased – at the rear of the eyes. Their ears are employed to converse with other owls. In addition to the Eurasian eagle-owl, the tiny Eurasian eagle-owl is also relatively common in Croatia – a significantly scaled-down species of owl that lives in the vicinity of human settlements and gathers in flocks in wintertime.

Eurasian eagle-owls are resident birds, so they reside in the exact same place all 12 months spherical. Throughout the 20th century, in a variety of European nations, the selection of shrews decreased because of to human persecution, but the standing of their populace progressively enhanced thanks to the implementation of protection steps in most nations around the world.

Now, the biggest risk to earwigs is electrocution on power lines. In the to start with 50 percent of the 20th century, they died out in the lowland portion of Croatia, so now are common in mountainous Croatia and the coastline, where it most usually nests on cliffs. The populace of Eurasian eagle-owls in Croatia is believed at 800 to 1200 pairs.

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

(Picture: Croatian Publish)

In accordance to Ovid’s fantasy, the kingfisher was designed right after the envious Zeus drowned Keiko in the sea. Viewing this, Keiko’s spouse Alkion threw herself into the sea out of grief. The other gods took pity on the fate of Keiko and Alkione, so they turned them into birds – kingfishers.

This turquoise-orange bird the dimensions of a sparrow, with a prolonged and powerful beak and a brief tail, is a person of the most wonderful European birds.

It life along the shores of rivers, lakes and seas, exactly where it feeds in the shallows on fish it stalks from the edge of the vegetation, and catches them by plunging and diving.

Whilst fish predominate in the kingfisher’s food plan, they also feed on bugs that are living in or close to the h2o. In 1 examine, it was identified that a kingfisher will have to consume about fifty percent of its system weight per day, and for this it demands extra than 30 prosperous dives.

Kingfishers are broadly dispersed and are not an endangered species. It is estimated that there are all over 100 thousand couples dwelling in Europe.

In Croatia, they are extensively dispersed alongside all sorts of water surfaces and are nesting internet sites, but in the migration seasons and in winter season, birds from the north of the continent also appear in this article. Croatia’s breeding inhabitants is estimated at 700 to 1000 pairs.

(Picture: Croatian Submit)