特447保育鳥類郵票—栗喉蜂虎 Sp.447 Conservation of Birds Postage Stamps-Blue-tailed Bee-eaters

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Issued on: 08 May, 2003


To promote a better understanding about ecological conservation and to raise the image of R.O.C. internationally for its conservation efforts, the Chunghwa Post is taking the bluetailed bee-eater, a protected summer migratory bird species in Kinmen National Park, as the topic for a set of four stamps as well as a souvenir sheet.

The blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus) belongs to the order Coraciiformes, family Meropidae. The family Meropidae consists of 25 species. More than 30 countries in the world have taken some ten of these species as subjects of bird stamps. Including their tail feathers, blue-tailed bee-eaters are about 30 centimeters long. They look very beautiful with their black eye stripes, sharp and pointy bills, red throats, green backs and blue feathers. They are very nimble and often catch their prey in flight-behavior that has earned them the nickname "hunters on the wing." They come to Kinmen to breed during April and May every year. Their colorful plumage adds many beautiful colors to the summer sky of Kinmen, and the sight of them in flight is enjoyed very much by bird watchers.

The upper left stample is 栗喉蜂虎捕食 / Merops philippinus Foraging;

the upper right is 栗喉蜂虎群棲 / Merops philippinus Roosting;

the lower left is 栗喉蜂虎沐浴 / Merops philippinus Bathing;

and the lower right is 栗喉蜂虎育雛 / Merops philippinus Feeding Chick.

I assumed they must be dinosaurs when I saw this stamp at the first time.

I was so stupid!!!

為宣導自然保育關觀念，並提昇我國國際保育形象，本公司特以金門國家公園中極具代表性之保育夏季候鳥—栗喉蜂虎為主題，印製「保育鳥類郵票—栗喉蜂虎」1組4枚及小全張1張。

栗喉蜂虎屬佛法僧目蜂虎科，全世界有25種蜂虎，已有30餘個國家將其中10餘種製作為鳥類專題郵票。栗喉蜂虎，含尾羽約長30公分，黑色的過眼 線、尖尖的嘴喙，配上紅喉、綠背、藍尾，外型豔麗。動作敏捷，常在飛行中捕捉獵物，擁有「空中獵手」的稱號 。每年4、5月間來到金門，營巢繁殖，五彩繽紛的羽毛，總是為金門的夏日天空增添許多斑斕的色彩，令賞鳥人士嘆為觀止。

茲將本組郵票圖案主題簡介如下：

(1)捕食：栗喉蜂虎是標準的食蟲性鳥類，飛行技巧高超的蜻蜓、蜜蜂、蝴蝶都是牠們的佳餚 ，在自然生態中，亦可藉以控制昆蟲數量、維護昆蟲之多樣化。

(2)群棲：為發揮共同放防禦的優勢，栗喉蜂虎一般集結小群活動、覓食，常見於耕作區域及 樹林旁的電線樹梢上，並以笛聲般的鳴叫聲，來維持同伴間之聯繫。

(3)沐浴：以土洞為巢的栗喉蜂虎，會被寄生蟲寄生。日正當中時，攤開全身的羽毛，貼在地上，讓周身上下都能曝曬到日光，更藉由沙子的熱度驅趕藏在羽毛間的寄生蟲。

(4)育雛：栗喉蜂虎的育雛期約1個月，親鳥外出捕捉昆蟲餵食幼鳥，所有會飛的昆蟲都可能 成為幼鳥的食物。親鳥餵食期間非常忙碌，幼鳥常在巢洞口邊搶食。

Source of the materials: Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-tailed_Bee-eater

Chunghwa Post Co.