Vanuatu Birds Definitive

Description

Vanuatu Post's definitive Birds issue comprises 12 stamps. Vanuatu has a wide and diverse range of wildlife that varies from the elegant mangrove Heron to the tiny, flittery, streaked Fantail.

The low values of the new definitive issue focus on the bush birds- the Southern Shrikebill; Sylvereye; Pacific Imperial Pigeon; Red Bellied Fruit Dove; Scrubfowl and the Long-tailed Triller.

The higher values focus on the coastal areas of the republic. The Streaked Fantail and the Drak Brown Honeyeater provide the transistion between bush and coast, and the series is completed via the Vanuatu petrel; Ruddy Turnstone; Purple Swamphen and the Striated Mangrove Heron.

The Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres has a fascinating migration story compared to the Vanuatu Petrel Pterodroma occulta which breeds on Vanua Lava while the Vanuatu Scrubfowl Megapodius layardi (Namalao), found on Ambryn Island, predominantly incubates its eggs in geothermally-heated soil. Nambiru or the Purple Swamphen Porphyrio Porphyrio has a very loud explosive call described as a "raucous high-pitched screech”.  The Dark-brown Honeyeater Lichmera incana is also loud and noisy in contrast to the endemic Southern Shrikebill Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides which is a beautiful songbird. Long-tailed Triller Lalage leucopyga simillima is endemic to Vanuatu and not threatened.

The Streaked Fantail Rhipidura spilodera is also endemic on all except the smallest islands from Vanua Lava to Efate. These can be compared to the Red-bellied Fruit Dove Ptilinopus greyii, which is considered to be capable of flying between islands. Of the others, the Pacific Imperial Pigeon Ducula pacifica (locally known as Nawemba) dines on fruiting native trees; the Silvereye Zosterops lateralis has a distinctive olive coloured head and white eye-ring and the Striated Mangrove Heron Butorides solomonensis reaches only 45cm in height but has interesting behavioural traits.