Karnataka - Mangalore   

Stamps that throw light on winged beauties

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

Keen: Schoolchildren looking at the nests of birds displayed at an exhibition at Dr. Shivaram Karanth Biological Park near Mangalore on Saturday.

MANGALORE: A whole new world of birds opens as you enter the two-day exhibition of stamps, nests and photographs that began at Dr. Shivaram Karanth Biological Park at Pilikula near here on Saturday.

Stamps from Bahrain to Bermuda and the U.S. to Japan, collected by Daniel Monteiro of Kumbragod village near Brahmavar in Udupi district, depicting birds form part of the exhibition.

Among them are an American darter on a stamp from Panama, a turnstone on a Bahrain stamp, a woodcock on a Republic of San Marino stamp, a roseate tern on a stamp from the Republic of Benin and a black-necked stilt on a Nigerian stamp.

Also on display are stamps showing endangered and extinct species such as the Bermuda petrel, the Great Auk and the Dalmatian pelican. One can also see penguins; diving birds such as puffins and grebes; swimming birds such as pelicans, gulls and terns; shorebirds such as plovers, sandpipers, avocets and sea ducks; and birds of the stork family such as herons, egrets, ibises and spoonbills.

There is a stamp showing the Laughing Kookaburra of Australia, known for its hysterical laughing call. Stamps depicting the forest kingfisher, the blue-breasted kingfisher and the ringed kingfisher are also on display.

The few nests on display at the exhibition include that of a white-browed bulbul, which is circular and made with twigs.

Nests that have big leaves at the base and the nest of a Rufous Woodpecker can also be seen. The biggest of them all is the nest of a house crow, which the organisers said weighed about 3.5 kg.

The exhibition has been organised as part of the Wildlife Week celebrations.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Stamps that throw light on winged beauties
CPI(M) protests against nuclear deal
‘Wildlife week’ launched at biological park in Mangalore

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu