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- 29c Broad-Billed Hummingbird single
29c Broad-Billed Hummingbird single
Object Details
- Description
- The Postal Service issued five 29-cent Hummingbirds commemorative stamps on June 15, 1992, during the National Audubon Society's convention at American University in Washington, DC. The stamps feature the broad-billed, calliope, costas, rubythroated, and rufous hummingbirds.
- Hummingbirds, often called the helicopters of the avian world, have evolved a unique form of flight. While other birds can hover for a moment or two, the darting, start-stop, up-down, forward-backward flight of hummers belongs to them alone. Hummingbirds scull the air rather than stroke it, gaining constant lift from what is more of a forward-and backward movement than the more usual up-and-down flapping of other birds. When hovering, their bodies assume a nearly vertical position. To power such an extraordinary set of wings, which never have a rest when the bird is in flight, hummingbirds have the largest pectoral muscles for their size of any animal alive.
- Designed by noted wildlife artist and veteran stamp designer Chuck Ripper, the stamps were printed on the photogravure press by the American Bank Note Company in booklets of twenty.
- Reference:
- Postal Bulletin (May 28, 1992).
- mint
- Credit line
- Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- October 9, 1992
- Object number
- 1994.2073.11
- Type
- Postage Stamps
- Medium
- paper; ink (multicolored); adhesive / photogravure
- Place
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Title
- Scott Catalogue USA 2643
- Topic
- Animals
- U.S. Stamps
- Record ID
- npm_1994.2073.11
- Usage
- Usage conditions apply
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