1955, Oshidori Japanese Stamp 5 ¥

1955, Oshidori Japanese 5-¥

Text: i Japan 5 yen 
Condition: Ø =USED/ Cancelled

Title:   Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

Face value:     5

Stamp Currency:       Yen

Country/area:                     Japan

Year:   1955

Set:     1955

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:           Light blue

Exact colour:           Brown

Usage:                           Definitives

Type:               Stamp

Theme:           Animals (Fauna) | Birds | Ducks

Stamp subject:           Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

Michel number:         643

Yvert number:                        566

Scott number:                        611

Stanley Gibbons number:    657

Printing office:            

Perforation:    Comb 13 x 13½

Watermark:    

Paper:            

Printing:             Photogravure

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OSHIDORI

The migratory Mandarin duck breeds in eastern Siberia, China, and Japan and winters in southern China and Japan. Once widespread in eastern Asia, it is now endangered due to the destruction of its forested habitat. Present population is estimated to be around 5000 pairs in Japan, though less than 1000 pairs remain in Russia and China.

The male is a colorful, striking bird in full plumage, the female is a paler version. Both have triangular feathers on their wings which the Japanese call icho-bane, or ginkgo feathers, because of their resemblance to the leaves of the ginkgo tree.

Mandarins prefer densely wooded areas near shallow bodies of water. They feed at dawn and dusk, their diet consisting of plants and seeds, including rice, which they gather both in the water and on land. They spend the daylight hours on the ground or perched in trees.

Mating takes place at the start of winter and is characterized by an animated courtship display involving mock drinking and shaking. Mandarins build their nests in a hole in a tree, which can be as high as thirty feet off the ground. While both birds search for right tree for their nest, it is the female who has the final say. She then lines her nest with down and lays nine to twelve oval eggs, one each day. In a little less than a month the eggs all hatch within several hours. The female then goes beneath the tree and calls her chicks. They respond by emerging from the nesting hole and dropping to the ground, uninjured, and follow their mother to feed. After forty to forty-five days, the chicks learn to fly and leave their parents to establish their own families. Mandarins sometimes form small flocks in the winter months, but for the most part shun the company of other ducks.

Because the Mandarin duck mates for life, it is a symbol of marital happiness and fidelity to the Chinese and Japanese. A old Japanese poem called it the bird of regret, describing its sorrow when left alone at the death of its mate.