2794) The Long-Tailed Duck, Estonia: "Bird Of The Year Stamp Series": Omniva (formerly Eesti Post) has issued a postage stamp of €0.90 (Euro) depicting the winter visitor: Date of Stamp issue: 20.04.2023:
The Long-tailed Duck ("Clangula hyemalis"), (formerly known as the "Oldsquaw" which was changed as it was feared that it was offensive to Native Americans), is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the Arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the genus Clangula.
The duck was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The genus name "Clangula" is a diminutive of the Latin "Clangere" (meaning "to resound"). The specific epithet hyemalis is Latin meaning "of winter".
Long-tailed Ducks breed in Tundra across Northern Eurasia (in Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland) and across northern North America (Alaska and northern Canada). In winter, they are found in large bodies of water, such as the North Pacific Ocean, the North Atlantic Ocean, and the Great Lakes.
Adults have white underparts, though the rest of the plumage goes through a complex moulting process. The male has a long-pointed tail - 10 to 15 centimetres (or 3.9 to 5.9 inches) long and a dark grey bill crossed by a pink band.
In winter, the male has a dark cheek patch on a mainly white head and neck, a dark breast and mostly white body. In summer, the male is dark on the head, neck and back with a white cheek patch.
The female has a brown back and a relatively short, pointed tail. In winter, the female's head and neck are white with a dark crown. In summer, the head is dark.
Juveniles resemble adult females in autumn plumage, though with a lighter, less distinct cheek patch.
The males are vocal and have a musical yodelling call "ow, ow, owal-ow".
Their breeding habitat is in tundra pools and marshes, but also along seacoasts and in large mountain lakes in the North Atlantic region, Alaska, northern Canada, northern Europe, and Russia.
The nest is located on the ground near water. It is built using vegetation and lined with down.
They are migratory and winter along the eastern and western coasts of North America, on the Great Lakes, coastal northern Europe and Asia, with stragglers to the Black Sea.
The most important wintering area is the Baltic Sea, where a total of about 4.5 million gather. As of 2022 it has also been breeding in parts of Western Europe, such as on the Marker Wadden in The Netherlands.
The long-tailed duck is gregarious, forming large flocks in winter and during migration.
They feed by diving for mollusks, crustaceans and some small fish. Although they usually feed close to the surface, they are capable of diving to depths of 80 fathoms (146.0 metres or 200 Feet).
They are the only ducks that use their wings to dive, which gives them the ability to dive much deeper than other ducks.
The long-tailed duck is still hunted across a large part of its range.
There has been a significant decline in the number of birds wintering in the Baltic Sea, partly due to their susceptibility to being trapped in gillnets.
For these reasons the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorised the long-tailed duck as vulnerable. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
About Bird of the Year - The Long-Tailed Duck, Estonia:
The Estonian Ornithological Society has chosen the Bird of the Year since 1995.
This year’s Bird of the Year, the long-tailed duck, is one of the most colourful of water birds and clearly stands out from the other arctic water birds found in Estonia.
It is a species that winters on the Baltic Sea and spends most of its year here. Therefore, it has also been chosen as an indicator species reflecting the state of the Baltic Sea.
The long-tailed duck has received a lot of attention all over the world due to its rapid decline in numbers and, unfortunately, this trend is not reversing.
The long-tailed duck is on the list of globally threatened bird species and is also a threatened species on the IUCN Red List.
An international action plan for the protection of the long-tailed duck was drawn up many years ago, covering the protection of the bird population in Western Siberia and Northern Europe, as well as in Greenland and Iceland.
The Stamp:
The postage stamp of 0.90 Euro
The First Day Cover (FDC) shows the Long-billed Duck, at left in its natural habitat.
The special cancellation postmark/handstamp shows the Long-tailed Duck in flight. The Cancellation is of Tallinn Post Office and the date of cancellation is - "20.04.2023.
Maxi or Maximum Cards have all three elements - the picture, the stamp and the cancellation on the same face/side.
A Full Sheet (FS) of 20 stamps.
Technical details:
Issue Date: 20.04.2023
Designer: Vladimir Taiger
Printer: AS Vaba Maa
Process: Offset
Size: 40.82 mm x 41.30 mm
Stamp Value: €0.90
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