Please wait!
13.07.2021
On the 16th of July 2021 Latvijas Pasts releases two new stamps, supplementing the popular Latvian Birds stamp series. One of the stamps depicts the grey partridge, recognised as Latvia’s Bird of the Year 2021 by the Latvian Ornithological Society, and the other stamp features the songbird Eurasian bullfinch or the common bullfinch. The new stamps will first be available for purchase at the post offices of the largest cities, as well as in the e-shop of Latvijas Pasts https://veikals.pasts.lv/. Those interested in the first day cancellation options are invited to contact us by writing to the e-mail address: filatelija@pasts.lv.
The print run of the stamp featuring the grey partridge is 50,000 copies. Its face value is €1.00, which corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams within Latvia. In turn, the face value of the stamp dedicated to the bullfinch is €1.27, and it is suitable for sending letter-post items in the weight class from 21 to 100 grams within Latvia. Its print run is 50,000 copies. The release of the stamps is accompanied by the issue of two covers featuring both birds, with a print run of 1,000 copies each. The stamps and the covers have been designed by the artist Ģirts Grīva.
The Latvian Ornithological Society has recognised the grey partridge (Perdix perdix) as Bird of the Year 2021 to encourage the public to give a thought to environmentally friendly farming in the countryside, as the distribution of this bird species has been affected in recent years due to agricultural intensity. The grey partridge is a rusty brown, speckled, bulky pigeon-sized bird with relatively short, strong legs and a short tail. As field birds, grey partridges are found on field edges, ditch edges, forest edges, in the underwood, on meadows, pastures, grain fields and in winter also near populated areas.
The Eurasian bullfinch or the common bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) is a small bird of the finch family and it is also a songbird. The literal translation of the name of this bird from Latvian is “whistler” or “red breast”, which means that it stands out among others with its singing or whistling skills, as well as its looks. It is small, massive and with a strong, conical beak. The male bird has a steel-grey back and a bright red chest and underparts, while the female has a light grey back and pinkish-grey underparts and chest. Both sexes have a black head, chin, wing feathers and tail with a blue metallic sheen, a white lower abdomen and under-tail coverts. The bullfinch is a fairly common nester and winterer in Latvia. Some birds migrate in the autumn and others arrive from the north.
The most recent Latvian Birds stamps and covers can be seen here.
The series of postage stamps Latvian Birds has been issued since 2010, and it is periodically supplemented with two new stamps at the same time. All stamps released in the Birds series can be viewed here.
The first day stamp cancellation is not being held at post offices during the spread of the COVID-19 infection, so stamp collectors and those interested in philately are invited to contact the Stamp and Philately Department of Latvijas Pasts regarding stamp cancellation options by writing to the e-mail address: filatelija@pasts.lv.
The new stamps and the cover will first be available for purchase at Riga post office No. 10 at 14/43 Elizabetes Street and at the post centre Sakta at 32 Brīvības bulvāris, Riga, as well as in the e-shop of Latvijas Pasts https://veikals.pasts.lv/.
The next philatelic release is scheduled for the 6th of August.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with around 3,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Vineta Danielsone | Senior Public Relations Project Manager
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv, vineta.danielsone@pasts.lv
twitter.com/latvijas_pasts | facebook.com/latvijas.pasts | instagram.com/latvijas_pasts