Today's theme is birds, one of my favorite topics to see on a stamp.
As I wrote a few years ago:
This is a pretty bird with a sad story behind it. This is the Azores bullfinch. Its species name is Pyrrhula murina, and it is endemic (meaning it is found only there) to the islands of the Azores, a small archipelago of islands in the North Atlantic that belong to Portugal.
Not only that, it is endemic to one island only, São Miguel Island.
Not only that, it is found only in the forests of the mountains in the eastern part of the island.
It likes the native laurel forests, and it is threatened by deforestation and the growth of non-native species.
In 2003, it was estimated that there were only 400 individuals left. However in 2008 it was estimated that there were 775 individuals left, so there is some hope.
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Viridian
7 comments:
Beautiful stamp, hopefully it continues to gain in numbers.
Seeing the stamp first, I thought it was a vintage Eurasian bullfinch stamp, faded by sunlight :-)
Reading your text I remember having been reading about this bird who alas has faded for other reasons. Also I hope this bird will gain in numbers as soon as possible.
Beautiful stamp!
Seeing the stamp first, I thought it was a vintage Eurasian bullfinch stamp, faded by sunlight :-)
Reading your text I remember having been reading about this bird who alas has faded for other reasons. Also I hope this bird will gain in numbers as soon as possible.
Beautiful stamp!
Unique island species are fascinating, hopefully it will be preserved.
I was preparing myself for a heartbreak but then jubilant in the end that there's hope for this bird!
Beautiful bird. Our bullfinch is more colourful but this Azores bird needs to survive.
I was in São Miguel in 2013, and visited a center dedicated to save the priolo. The number is happily increasing!
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