Red-crowned Crane

 

Red-crowned Crane (丹頂鶴)
North Korea (2014)
29th Deember, 2015. Pyongyang

Red-crowned cranes are named for a patch of red bare skin on the crown, which becomes brighter in the mating season. Overall, they are snow white in color with black on the wing secondaries, which can appear almost like a black tail when the birds are standing, but the real tail feathers are actually white. Males are black on the cheeks, throat and neck, while females are pearly gray in these spots. The bill is olive green to greenish horn, the legs are slaty to grayish black, and the iris is dark brown.

This species is among the largest cranes, typically measuring about 150 to 158 cm tall and 120–150 cm in length (from bill to tail tip). Across the large wingspan, the red-crowned crane measures 220–250 cm. Typical body weight can range from 7 to 10.5 kg, with males being slightly larger and heavier than females and weight ranging higher just prior to migration. On average, it is the heaviest crane species, although both the sarus and wattled crane can grow taller and exceed this species in linear measurements. The maximum known weight of the red-crowned crane is 15 kg. Among standard measurements, the wing chord measures 56–67 cm, the exposed culmen measures 13.5–16.7 cm and the tarsus measures 25.5–30.1 cm.

Yellow-billed Stork

Yellow-billed Stork (黃嘴䴉鸛)
Gambia (2011)
9th December, 2015. Tranqueras

Yellow-billed stork, sometimes also called the wood stork or wood ibis, is a large African wading stork species in the Ciconiidae family. It is widespread in regions south of the Sahara and also occurs in Madagascar.

The yellow-billed stork is closely related to 3 other species in the Mycteria genus: the American woodstork (Mycteria americana), the milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) and the painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala). It is classified as belonging to one clade with these 3 other species because they all display remarkable homologies in behavior and morphology. In one analytical study of feeding and courtship behaviours of the wood-stork family, MP Kahl attributed the same general ethology to all members of the Mycteria genus, with few species-specific variations. These four species are collectively referred to as the wood-storks, which should not be confused with one alternative common name (wood-stork) for the yellow-billed stork.

Before it was established that the yellow-billed stork was closely related to the American woodstork, the former was classified as belonging to the genus Ibis, together with the milky stork and painted stork. However, the yellow-billed stork has actually long been recognised as a true stork and along with the other 3 related stork species, it should not strictly be called an ibis.

Blue Lorikeet

Blue Lorikeet (塔布吸蜜鸚鵡)
Aitutaki (2002)
16th July, 2014. Aitutaki

Blue lorikeet is a small lorikeet from French Polynesia and the Cook Islands. It is also known as the Tahiti lorikeet, violet lorikeet, Tahitian lory, blue lory, nunbird, and the indigo lory. It was formerly found on 23 islands around Tahiti, but now restricted to perhaps eight islands: Motu, Manuae, Tikehau, Rangiroa, Aratua, Kaukura, Apataki, Aitutaki, and possibly Harvey Island and Manihi. Its plumage is mainly dark blue and it has a white area over its upper chest, throat and face. The first captive breeding in the UK was by the Marquess of Tavistock in the 1930s. He was awarded a silver medal by the Foreign Bird League for this achievement.

Short-toed Eagle

Short-toed Eagle (短趾雕)
Azerbaijan (2011)
3rd April, 2014. Baku

This is an Old World species spread throughout the Mediterranean basin and into Russia and the Middle East, and into parts of Asia, mainly in the Indian Subcontinent and also further east in some Indonesian islands.

Those present on the northern edge of the Mediterranean and other parts of Europe migrate mainly to sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator, leaving in September/ October and returning in April/ May. In the Middle and Far East the populations are resident. In Europe it is most numerous in Spain where it is fairly common but elsewhere it is rare in many parts of its range. A bird on the Isles of Scilly, Britain, in October 1999 was the first confirmed record for that country.

The Short-toed Snake Eagle is found in open cultivated plains, arid stony deciduous scrub areas and foothills and semi-desert areas. It requires trees for nesting.

Tristan Albatross

Tristan Albatross (特島信天翁)
Tristan da Cunha (2013)
12th August, 2013. Tristan da Cunha

Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) is a large seabird from the albatross family, which was only widely recognised as a full species in 1998. Due to the difficulty in distinguishing them from Wandering Albatrosses, their distribution at sea is still not fully known, but the use of satellite tracking has shown that they forage widely in the South Atlantic, with males foraging west of the breeding islands towards South America and females to the east towards Africa. There have been sightings near Brazil and also off the coast of Australia.

The Tristan Albatrosses are endemic to the islands of the Tristan da Cunha group and more specifically Gough Island. The majority of the world's population nest on Gough Island, around 1500 pairs. On some years a pair breeds on Inaccessible Island.

Ducorps' Cockatoo

Ducorps' Cockatoo (杜氏鳳頭鸚鵡)
Solomon Islands (2013)
21st June, 2011. Honiara

The Ducorps' Cockatoo, also known as Solomons Corella or Broad-crested Corella, is a species of cockatoo endemic to the Solomon Islands. This small white cockatoo is larger than the Tanimbar Corella yet smaller than the Umbrella Cockatoo. The species is common across most of the Solomons, absent only from Makira in the south. It inhabits lowland rainforests, secondary forests, cleared areas and gardens. The Solomons Cockatoo nests in tree cavities. The eggs are white and there are usually two in a clutch. The eggs are incubated for about 25 days and the chicks leave the nest about 62 days after hatching.

The northern common cuscus, also known as the grey cuscus, is a species of marsupial in the Phalangeridae family native to northern New Guinea and adjacent smaller islands, but is now also found in the Bismarck Archipelago, south-east and central Moluccas, the Solomons and Timor, where it is believed to have been introduced in prehistoric times.

Two species are not endanger species but appear on the stamps.

Northern Common Cuscus (灰袋貂)
Solomon Islands (2002)

Black Crowned-crane

Black Crowned-crane (黑冠鶴)
The Gambia (2006)
7th July, 2013. Banjul

Black Crowned-crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although in nests in somewhat wetter habitats. This species and the closely related Grey Crowned-crane (東非冕鶴), which prefers wetter habitats for foraging, are the only cranes that can nest in trees. Like all cranes, Black Crowned-crane eats insects, reptiles, and small mammals. It is endangered, especially in the west, by habitat loss and degradation.

Black Crowned-crane (黑冠鶴)
The Gambia (2006)
27th February, 2006. Banjul