Theme Birds on Stamps      by Kjell Scharning

Welcome to my website. Collecting birds on stamps has for many years been an aspect of my interest in birds and birding. When my skill with computer databases reached a high enough level, it was a natural thing to make a computerised wants list. I didn't manage to stop before all the bird stamps in the world had been put into my database.

As a result, I have now such a great amount of information in my database that I thought maybe others would like to have a look.

I have been collecting birds on stamps, whole world, for more than 30 years. I am a member of Aves Philatelicae Scandiae, the Bird Stamp Society, American Topical Association.

My references for BirdStamps are Stanley Gibbons Collect Birds on Stamps (CBoS) , Åke Eliasson Birds on Stamps with supplements (ÅE), other Stanley Gibbons catalogues, Michel catalogues, numerous websites (postal authorities, private websites.). All my data are kept in a Microsoft Office Access database.

The stamps included are all stamps depicting identifiable wild bird species, with some exceptions. Some nearly identifiable birds have been included, and some domestics have been included.

I use MS (miniature sheet) for 1 stamp with something, usually decorated, around it. Units of 2 or more stamps, I call sheet (or strip when appropriate).

Bird species identifications are my own, based upon CBoS, ÅE and field guides. All bird names, English and scientific, follow the IOC bird list (see Taxonomy and systematics).

Catalogue number pages are linked to each country. On these pages you will find numbers from all the major stamp catalogues. Thanks to Jacques Paris, Canada, and his large data bank, there are not many numbers missing.

BirdStamps will be continuously updated. See On collecting for information about my resources on new issues.