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05.07.2022
On the 8th of July 2022, Latvijas Pasts releases two new stamps, supplementing the Latvian Birds series, one the most popular stamp series. One of the stamps depicts the common swift, recognised as Latvia’s Bird of the Year 2022 by the Latvian Ornithological Society, and the other stamp features the Eurasian magpie, a bird of the Corvidae family. 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/. The first day cancellation of the stamp is scheduled to take place in the post centre Sakta at 32 Brīvības bulvāris, Riga, from 9 AM to 6 PM on the 8th of July 2022.
The print run of the stamp featuring the common swift is 100,000 copies. Its face value is €1.20, which corresponds to the postage of letter-post items weighing up to 20 grams within Latvia. The face value of the stamp dedicated to the Eurasian magpie is €1.47, and it is suitable for sending letter-post items in the weight class from 21 to 100 grams within Latvia. Its print run is 100,000 copies. The release of the stamps is accompanied by the issue of two covers featuring both birds, with a print run of 800 copies each. The stamps and the covers have been designed by the artist Ģirts Grīva.
The common swift (Apus apus) is a small bird with a body length of 16 to 18 centimetres. Its wings are equally long and form a shape of a crescent during flight, but slightly exceed the length of the tail when folded. The neck is short, the head is flat, the beak is short and wide, and the mouth is wide too. The shoulders and chest are well-developed and strong. The common swift’s plumage is blackish brown or greyish brown, except for a lighter throat patch. The ends of the feathers are lighter too. The Latvian Ornithological Society has recognised the common swift as Bird of the Year 2022: since its main habitat is human settlements – towns and villages – ornithologists call on the public to learn to get along with the birds that have chosen human housing as their own.
The Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) is a medium-sized bird of the Corvidae family. Its body length is from 40 to 51 centimetres, and in adult birds more than 50% of the total body length is the tail. The wingspan is from 52 to 62 centimetres, and the weight is from 200 to 250 grams. Males are slightly larger than females. The head, neck, back and chest are black with a metallic green and violet sheen, while the belly and shoulder feathers are pure white. The Eurasian magpie is found throughout Europe and much of Asia, as well as in western North Africa. In Latvia, the Eurasian magpie is a common nester and resident bird, which willingly settles in or near populated areas as well as in large cities.
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 next philatelic release is scheduled for the 28th of July.
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 3,000 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 Kļaviņa | Senior Public Relations Project Manager
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv, vineta.klavina@pasts.lv
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