Kingfishers flock together on the latest stamp issue

Friday, 22 October 2010

Australia Post is releasing a stamp issue featuring four spectacular species of Australian kingfishers, their beauty captured by the brush of wildlife artist Christopher Pope. These four jewels of the bush represent the diversity of the 10 Australian species of kingfishers. Australia's iconic kookaburras belong to this group.

This stamp issue is the most recent in Australia Post's long history of featuring birds on stamps. Australia Post Philatelic Manager, Michael Zsolt says, "Stamp issues with an avian theme are extremely popular with collectors and the general public. The stamps are usually bright and eye-catching, and they often feature birds people see while bushwalking or in their own backyards."

South Australian-based artist Christopher Pope was commissioned to illustrate this stamp issue, after working on two other well-received stamp issues. In 2008, Christopher illustrated the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Visiting Birds stamps and in 2009, the Australian Songbirds stamps. The 2009 Australian Songbirds won Australia Post's "Stamp Design Award, People's Choice 2009" as the favourite Australian stamp issue of that year. Christopher is a self-taught artist, who works predominantly in acrylic paints. He has been exhibiting his work since 1995 and his artworks are held in several collections.

This new stamp issue comprises four denominations, featuring the following Kingfisher species:

60c Red-backed Kingfisher (Todiramphus pyrrhopygius ): This species is unusual in that it is well adapted to desert areas and can survive in Australia's dry interior, as well as in its tropical coastal regions. As its name suggests, it has a reddish-brown coloured lower back.
$1.20 Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus ): Similar to the Red-backed Kingfisher, this species can be identified by its turquoise-green head and shoulders, rich blue lower back and wings and the black band stretching from the base of its bill across its eye to the back of its head. The Sacred Kingfisher is widely distributed across Australia, though not through dry central Australia or western Tasmania.
$1.80 Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii ): A close relative of the Laughing Kookaburra, the Blue-winged Kookaburra has a rising cacophonous cry. It has an iridescent sky-blue lower back and wings and stronger blue flight and tail feathers. The Blue-winged Kookaburra is found across most of the tropical north of Australia from the Pilbara, in Western Australia, across to southern Queensland.
$3.00 Yellow-billed Kingfisher (Syma torotoro ): This olive green species inhabits the northern tip of Cape York, the remoteness and inaccessibility of its habitat making sightings relatively rare.

The Australian Kingfishers stamp issue products include a first day cover, a stamp pack, a self-adhesive booklet of 10 x 60c stamps, a roll of 100 x 60c self-adhesive stamps and a maxicard set.

This stamp issue is available from participating Australia Post retail outlets, via mail order on 1800 331 794 or online at auspost.com.au/stamps from 26 October 2010 while stocks last.

Also available from the 2010 Impressions catalogue will be a set of Australian kingfisher prints from the beautiful artwork of Christoper Pope. For more details, go to auspost.com.au/impressions from early November. Available while stocks last.