Birds Perched, Birds Flying, Birds Aground

The Belgian artist Jean Van Noten was a very prolific stamp designer, designed hundreds of stamps for Belgium and ex Belgian colonies like Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. Among them he designed many sets show fauna and flora of Africa like the Rwanda and Congo sets I posted in pages 62 and 64 of this thread, respectively. But, in my opinion, his most attractive and extraordinary fauna set is the colorful bird set of ten stamps he designed for Rwanda and was issued on December 18, 1967. Here are the first five of them:

Red Bishop (Euplectes orix)
Woodland Kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis)
Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea)
Double-toothed Barbet (Lybius bidentatus)
Pin-tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura)

Here are the rest five in the set:

Red-chested Cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius)
Green Wood Hoopoe (Phoeniculus purpureus)
Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (Merops oreobates)
Regal Sunbird (Nectarinia regius)
Fan-tailed Widowbird (Euplectes axillaris)






More Van Noten's birds to come...

More from the hands of the Belgian artist Jean Van Noten is the set of ten native bird stamps issued for Rwanda on May 17, 1972. Here are the first five of them:

Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild)
Collared Sunbird (Anthreptes collaris)
Variable Sunbird (Cinnyris venustus)
Greater Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris afer)
Ruwenzori Puff-back Flycatcher (Batis diops)

....and the rest five of the set:

Red-billed Fire Finch (Lagonosticta senegala)
Scarlet-chested Sunbird (Nectarinia senegalensis)
Red-headed Quelea (Quelea erythrops)
Black-headed Gonolek (Laniarius erythrogaster)
African Golden Oriole (Oriolus auratus)

Protected animals, designed by V. Wurnitsch, engraved by Alfred Nefe and issued by Austria on September 9, 1982:

Great Bustard (Otis tarda)
Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)

Aquatic Birds, designed by the Belgian artist Jean Van Noten and issued by Rwanda on June 30, 1975:

Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)
Malachite Kingfisher (Alcedo cristata)
Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath)
Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis)
African Jacana (Actophilornis africana)
African Darter (Anhinga rufa)
Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)
Hartlaub's Duck (Pteronetta hartlaubi)

Two spectacular SS's, also work of Jean Van Noten, were issued together with the above set of aquatic birds:

Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber):

South African Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum):

Schönbrunn is a zoological garden located on the grounds of the famous Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Founded as an imperial menagerie in 1752, it is the oldest zoo in the world.

200th anniversary of Schönbrunn zoological garden, designed by Ernst Schrom, engraved by Friedrich Teubel and issued by Austria on May 24, 1952. Note the four species of birds on the frame:

The 250th anniversary of Schönbrunn zoological garden, designed by Adolf Tuma, engraved by Wolfgang Seidel and issued by Austria on June 3, 2002. Different birds on the margin and on two stamps:

Local birds, definitive stamps issued by the Union of Burma on April 16, 1964:

White-browed Fantail (Rhipidura aureola) - three stamps, same design and different colors (1, 2, 3 P):

Indian Roller (Coracias Benghalensis) - three stamps, same design and different colors (5, 10, 15 P):

Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus):

Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela):

Sarus Crane (Grus antigone):

Malaber Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceras coronatus):

Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos):

Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus):

The above 1964 Burma set I just posted, was reissued on July 1, 1968, with same designs, values and colors but in different stamp sizes. Here are the 1964 and 1968 sets for comparison:

The designs of the bird stamps are all based on designs from the book "The Birds of Burma" by B. E. Smythies, published in 1940. Here is an example:

Nature Conservation - Birds of prey, designed by Josef Saska, engraved by Václav Fajt and issued by the Czech Republic on October 15, 2003:

- Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
- Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
- Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus)

Here are more bird stamps designed by the Belgian artist Jean Van Noten. Each of them is one in a set shows animals or landscapes:

Yellow-crested Helmetshrike (Prionops alberti), engraved by Jean de Vos, Rwanda, 1966:

Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), Rwanda, 1972:

Black Crowned-Crane (Balearica pavonina), Rwanda, 1980:

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica), Senegal, 1975:

Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata), WWF stamps issued by the Palestinian Authority on November 24, 2001:

This nice owl arrived via Postcrossing... Russia 2018

Malagasy birds, designed by Pierrette Lambert and issued by Madagascar on August 12, 1963:

Madagascan Blue Pigeon (Alectroenas madagascariensis):

Blue Coua (Coua caerulea):

Red Fody (Foudia madagascariensis):

Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher (Ispidina madagascariensis):