Stamperija's series of rare birds issues

Stamperija is publishing details of issues bearing the BirdPex8 logo featuring rare birds of some of its client nations. While I have abandoned listing Stamperija's output, this series is a commendable initiative, and is sure to result in the appearance of species of bird that have never previously appeared on stamps.

I will list here, in no particular order, those that I have found so far. The format is the familiar sheet of 4 stamps and a souvenir sheet.

Djibouti: Image listed as
Dendropicos namaquus; Phoeniculus somaliensis; Caprimulgus stellatus; Trachyphonus darnaudii (Unfortunately, none of these four species is listed as occurring in Djibouti)
and SS Tricholaema melanocephala.

Guinea:(20/6/2017) Image listed as
Megabyas flammulatus; Tchagra minutus; Rhaphidura sabini; Laniarius turatii
and SS Dryoscopus sabini

Sierra Leone:(30/6/2017) Image listed as
Prodotiscus insignis; Gymnobucco peli; Tockus hartlaubi; Telacanthura melanopygia
and SS Himantornis haematopus

Solomon Is.:(21/8/2017) Image listed as
Ptilinopus eugeniae; Columba pallidiceps, Gallicolumba beccarii; Ducula brenchleyi, Ducula brenchleyi; Micropsitta bruijnii. Unfortunately, for this last stamp, the designer has chosen this image of Red-necked Amazon (Amazona arausiaca).
and SS Puffinus heinrothi

Togo:(30/6/2017) Image listed as
Nigrita canicapillus; Estrilda troglodytes; Pytilia phoenicoptera; Nigrita luteifrons
and SS Vidua togoensis

Another photographic error

When selecting a photograph on which to base his design intended to feature a Pygmy Eagle (Hieraaetus weiskei), the designer has chosen this photograph of a Little Eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides) taken in  Australia. Unhappily, this species does not normally occur in Papua New Guinea.

Another photographic error

I have searched for other photographs that may have been used by the designer of the PNG Rare Birds issue, and found most of them.

I could not find one for the Slaty-backed Goshawk, and the image on the stamp is not like any illustrations I could find of the species. It looks more like a Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), but without finding the source photograph, I will list it as unidentified.

The stamp titled "New Britain Goshawk (Accipiter princeps)" is based on this photograph of Grey Goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae).

I have delayed publishing these observations for fear of causing the issue to be cancelled.

Photographic Errors

The forthcoming issue of Rare Birds of Papua New Guinea has given us potentially 7 new species on stamps.  However, realising that the image used for a Black Honey-buzzard was not as black as I would have expected, I searched for images of this species using Google. I soon found this photograph. I suggest that the designer/artist used this image to portray a Black Honey-buzzard, but he was wrong.

Using Google's image search of this particular photograph results in a suggestion by Google that the bird is an Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus). The photograph has been used in several places on the web, but perhaps the most authoritative was this one on Oriental Bird Images. This photograph was taken in January, 2009 at the Buxa Tiger Reserve, West Bengal, India, by Nikhil Devasar.

One is reminded of a similar error from PNG when an image of the South American Harpy Eagle was used in 2008 to portray a New Guinea Eagle (Harpyopsis novaeguineae).

I may just check for a few more source photographs...

National Geographic Animals of the World

In 2016, PCi produced for Samoa a 20-stamp set with the sub-title "National Geographic Animals of the World".

Recently, several sales have appeared on Delcampe with the names of countries whose stamps are usually produced by IGPC.  The images are not very clear, but the countries included so far are Ghana, Palau and Guyana. If and when these appear on IGPC's website, I will list them.

Europa 2019

PostEurop has announced that the theme for 2019 will be "National Birds". There is plenty of scope for repeats as many European countries with a nominated national bird have already issued stamps featuring them. Also, a few European countries do not have a nominated national bird. Will they hastily choose one?