Abird stamp is apostage stamp that illustrates one or morebirds. It is a popular theme intopical stamp collecting.[2]
Birds started appearing on stamps by 1875, when Japan issued a series of three stamps bearing stylized illustrations of the three speciesMotacilla alba,Accipiter gentilis andbean goose.[3][4] The first United States bird stamp, depicting an eagle with wings outspread, was issued in 1869 on Scott #116 and #121, on stamps that were issued for general mail usage. The UK issued its first in honor of "Nature Week" in 1963.[3] As of 2024, over 40,000 bird stamps have been issued around the world, depicting more than 4,000 species of birds.[5]
A prominent collector is Chris Gibbins whose collection of over twelve thousand stamps portrays about three thousand species.[2] Organisations that cover this field include theAmerican Topical Association andThe Bird Stamp Society.[6]
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