Product Description
Birds of Prey: 4 April 2019
Royal Mail issued a set of 10 stamps depicting birds of prey, five head close-ups and five in flight.Stamp: 1st Class: Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus
Card: Gerard Schmitt, Eourres, France
Postmark: First Day of Issue, Edinburgh
Brought to low numbers by pesticides in the middle of the 20th century, the peregrine has recovered dramatically. Many peregrines are now urban birds, nesting on cathedrals, other tall buildings and bridges. Probably the fastest living creature, the peregrine hunts birds up to the size of large gulls, almost always on the wing. It has a short tail and long, pointed wings. The juveniles are brown, while the adults have a grey-blue back. In the UK, these birds are sedentary, but peregrines in other areas can be migratory, and they are the most widely spread raptors worldwide.
