Netherlands – Farmland Birds

PostNL today releases a new stamp sheetlet in the series “Experience nature”, with 10 different birds from the farmland on 10 stamps. This also includes the godwit, which was voted National Bird by the Dutch public a few years ago.

Landscape under pressure

Farmland birds live near yards, barns, ditches, fields and meadows. Due to changes in the landscape, the natural habitat of the farmland birds is increasingly under pressure.

Bird Protection Netherlands

The consequence for the farmland birds is drastic, says Resi Becker, MailNL’s director of PostNL. “In half a century, 60% of these birds have disappeared in our country. The Netherlands currently has about 70 species of farmland birds. We must deal with this carefully. That is why PostNL supports the efforts of Bird Protection Netherlands to issue all wild birds and their habitats with the issue of these stamps. ”

Balance in positions and viewing directions

Experience Nature – farmland birds was designed by graphic designer Frank Janse from Gouda. The stamps show the following farmland birds: yellow wagtail, shoveler, black-tailed godwit, curlew, summer turtle, partridge, lapwing, little owl, redshank and skylark. Of the 10 farmland birds on the stamps, only the 2 bellowing godwits and the skylark can be seen in the sky. The other birds are depicted standing, sitting or swimming. Janse: “This is due to the fact that farmland birds are generally somewhat smaller and therefore more difficult to recognize when they fly. More importantly, I wanted to create a nice balance. With birds that occupy different positions and look at different sides. ”

Fresh colors

All photos on the stamps are from Buiten-Beeld, the Dutch image bank for nature photography. Because of spring, Janse searched for images with fresh colors of green, yellow and orange. “The latter is especially reflected in the long legs of the redshank, in the head of the partridge, the belly of the shoveler and the necks of the 2 black-tailed godwits. That was also a consideration to make the title orange this time. ”