Conservation of Birds Postage Stamps Chinese Crested Tern (D435)

Stamp SN : D435
Stamp Name : Conservation of Birds Postage Stamps Chinese Crested Tern
Stamp Cat Standard : Special Stamps
Stamp Cat : Birds
Issue date : 2002-05-15
Dimension of stamps(mm.) : 40 x 30 （mm）
Size of souvenir Sheet (mm.) : 120 x 60 (mm)
Printer : China Color Printing Co., Ltd., R.O.C.
Sheet composition : 10 (5 X 2)
Print color : Colorful
Process : Deep etch offset
Paper : Phosphorescent stamp paper
Perforation : 11 1/2 x 11
Designer : Chang Deng-ruei

Stamp design:
To show Taiwan's achievements in conserving wild bird ecology at a time when environmental protection is an increasingly important world trend, the Directorate is issuing a set of ten stamps and a miniature sheet on the Chinese crested tem, which is an endangered species listed in the World Wild Bird Red Book. To show more completely the Chinese crested tem's ecology, the entire set of ten stamps will be printed in a se-tenant strip that offers a panorama of the tern preservation areas in the Matsu archipelago. These stamps were planned by the Wild Bird Federation Taiwan. Once thought to be extinct, the Chinese crested tem is estimated to have a global population of less than 100. The last sure sighting in the 20th century was in 1937 when 21 birds were killed for specimens. Because there had been scant research about the Chinese crested tem, some ornithologists began describing it as a "legendary bird." In early June of 2000, nature photographer Liang Chieh-teh spotted four pairs -of Chinese crested terns on one of the Matsu islands. The BBC even made a special report about the breeding of these "legendary birds" in Matsu. The Chinese crested terns are about 42 centimeters long, with a pale gray-brown upper body, a white lower body, a black crown and white forehead. Their range stretches from the coastal areas of South Korea and northeast China to the Philippines. In Taiwan, apart from the tem preservation areas in the Matsu archipelago, Chinese crested tem has also been sighted near the mouth of the Pachang River. Not much is known about the diet of the birds, but it is sure that they eat fish. Their breeding season is from April to September. They build their nests in areas where there is vegetation. There is only one egg in each nest. The female and the male take turns sitting on their egg and feeding their chick.