The Fauna of Hungary - block
The common buzzard, bird of 2012 on a block
Birds of prey are this year’s new features. Állami
Nyomda printed 80,000 copies of the block depicting the common buzzard,
the 2012 bird of the year, based on the design by graphic artist Kálmán
Székely. The graphic composition of the frame shows the characteristic
movements of a hunting common buzzard, which can be seen in its full
splendour in the actual stamp image. The stamps that accompany the block
– issued on 4 May 2012 – depict in the rising order of their nominal
values the eastern imperial eagle, the white-tailed eagle, the
red-footed falcon and the Saker falcon. The common buzzard (Buteo buteo)
belongs to the accipitriformes order of birds. It is a bird of prey
that can be found in high numbers in the plains and highlands of Europe
and Asia. It has a permanent presence in the Carpathian Basin. In 2012
the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society selected it
as the bird of the year. On the basis of the findings of a census
carried out in January 2012, 5,183 common buzzards spent the winter in
Hungary. The common buzzard is a protected species in Hungary with a
value of 10,000 forints.Its body length is
approximately half a metre and its wingspan is more than double this. It
has a heavy, me-dium or large body with wide wings and a short tail.
The hen is larger and more bulky than the male. Its plumage varies from
dark brown to almost white, which makes it unique among European birds
of prey. It chiefly perches on fences and pillars or circles in upward
air currents. Its cries can be compared to a mewing sound. It can
frequently be seen gliding above open landscapes and the edges of
forests with its wings folded upwards into a V shape. It only hunts for
small animals and chiefly catches voles but it also eats lizards,
snakes, fledglings and insects. (Source: hu.wikipedia.org)
Order code: 2012090030011 (block); 2012090060012 (FDC)
Date of issue: 15 June 2012.
Nominal value: HUF 500
Number of copies: 80,000
Perforated size of stamp: 40x30 mm Trim box: 90x70 mm
Printed by Állami Nyomda
Designed by Kálmán Székely
