ANIMALS – BIRDS – SEABIRDS – GREAT SHEARWATER (ARDENNA GRAVIS)

Animals - Birds - Seabirds

Great shearwater (Ardenna gravis)

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Procellariiformes
Family : Procellariidae
Genus : Ardenna
Species : A. Gravis

Description:

The Great shearwater(Ardenna gravis; formerly Puffinus gravis) is a large shearwater in the seabirdfamily Procellariidae. Its relationships are unclear. It belongs in the group of large species that have been separated as genus Ardenna (Penhallurick & Wink 2004); within these, it might be allied with the other black-billed, blunt-tailed species, the short-tailed shearwater and especially the sooty shearwater (Austin 1996, Heidrich et al. 1998). Alternatively (Austin 1996, Austin et al. 2004), it could be a monotypic subgenus (Ardenna sensu stricto), an Atlantic representative of the light-billed Hemipuffinus group (pink-footed shearwater and flesh-footed shearwater).

This species breeds on Nightingale Island, Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha, and Gough Island. It is one of only a few bird species to migrate from breeding grounds in the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere, the normal pattern being the other way round. This shearwater nests in large colonies, laying one white egg in a small burrow or in the open grass. These nests are visited only at night to avoid predation by large gulls.

This shearwater is 43–51 cm in length with a 105–122 cm wingspan. It is identifiable by its size, dark upperparts, and underparts white except for a brown belly patch and dark shoulder markings. It has a black cap, black bill, and a white "horseshoe" on the base of the tail. The stiff flight, like a large Manx shearwater, is also distinctive. The only other large shearwater in its range is the all-dark sooty shearwater.

Binomial Name:

Name : Ardenna gravis
Taxonomist : O'Reilly
Year : 1818
Subspecies : None or not data available
Synonyms : Puffinus gravis, Procellaria gravis

Conservation Status by IUCN:

Status :Least Concern

Has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as evaluated but not qualified for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (prior to 2001) conservation dependent.

Philatelic Issues

2004 – Uruguay – Stamp 1 of 4, from Seabirds Series

Issue information:

Country: Uruguay
Date: January 22nd, 20
Printed: 15.000 copies
Type : Stamp from Series of 4 Stamps
Value : UYP 14

Stamp : Rectangular
Size: 27 mm. x 39 mm.
Perforation: Circular
Gum: Water Activated

ANIMALS – BIRDS – SONGBIRDS – PLUSH-CRESTED JAY (CYANOCORAX CHRYSOPS)

Animals - Birds - Songbirds

Plush-crested jay (Cyanocorax chrysops)

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Passeriformes
Family :Corvidae
Genus : Cyanocorax
Species : C. Chrysops

Description:

The Plush-crested jay(Cyanocorax chrysops) is a jay of the family Corvidae(which includes the crows and their many allies). It is found in central-southern South America: in southwestern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina, including southern regions of the Amazon Basin river systems bordering the Pantanal.

This is an elegant medium-sized bird, dark plumaged with a cream-yellow breast; the bulky tail is also cream colored, top and underneath, for the lower half.

The range of the plush-crested jay extends from the Southern Region, Brazil with Uruguay and approaches the South Atlantic coast, but avoids the coast, approximating a 400 to 150 km coastal strip; the coastal-inland range extends 3500 km from São Paulo south to Rio Grande do Sul bordering Uruguay. The inland range continues in northwestern Uruguay and extends northwest through northern Argentina, Paraguay–Bolivia, and through the pantanal at the southern cerrado; the range extends in two arms, to the northwest to northern Bolivia, and northeastwards to headwaters of the Amazon Basin Tapajós River.

In the Amazon Basin, central Bolivia is the northwest range limit, the headwater tributaries to the north-northeast flowing Madeira River; the next range skips the Guaporé River, (a northwest-flowing tributary to the Madeira), eastwards on the Brazil–Bolivia border, and is next found at the headwaters of the Tapajós River, and joins on the east the extreme headwaters of the Xingu River.

A disjunct range occurs downstream on the Tapajós and east towards the Xingu River, a block 850 by 750 kilometres (530 mi × 470 mi). Two other localized populations occur in the Amazon Basin, one on the Amazon River, the other on the downstream Madeira River.

Binomial Name:

Name : Cyanocorax chrysops
Taxonomist : Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot (Yvetot - France)
Year : 1818
Subspecies : None, or no data available
Synonyms : None, or no data available

Conservation Status by IUCN:

Status : Least Concern

Has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as evaluated but not qualified for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (prior to 2001) conservation dependent.

Philatelic Issues

2008 – Uruguay – Stamp 2 of 2, from Mercosur Series

Issue information:

Country: Uruguay
Date: June 20th, 2008
Printed: 15.000 Copies
Type: Stamp from Series of 2 Stamps
Value: UYP 37

Stamp: Rectangular
Size: 27 mm. x 39 mm.
Perforation: Circular
Gum: Water Activated