By Joe Brockert/United States Postal Service
Hi,
I’m with the Postal Service and wanted to give you a heads up that Illinois’ state bird has been commemorated on a Forever stamp. The Northern Cardinal appears as one of our Songbirds in Snow stamps that were just issued last week. Here’s the link to the news release.
They’re available in many Post Offices already, and customers also can order them online.
*
Songbirds in Snow – Northern Cardinal
*
Songbirds in Snow – Golden-crowned Kinglet
*
Songbirds in Snow – Cedar Waxwings
*
Songbirds in Snow – Red-breasted Nuthatch
*
Songbirds in Snow – All four stamps
*
INSTRUCTIONS FOR REPRODUCING STAMP IMAGES: The stamp design must be reproduced in its entirety, including denomination and perforations. If the stamp design is reproduced within 75-150% of stamp size, a line must be placed through the denomination to ‘cancel’ the reproduction and prevent its use as actual postage. The appropriate USPS trademark and copyright notices must be included. All stamp designs are considered preliminary and subject to change until such time as the First Day of Issuance.
–
From State Symbols USA:
“Illinois schoolchildren selected the cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) as the State Bird of Illinois, made official in 1929 by the Illinois General Assembly. One of America’s fav’cheer cheer cheer,’ ‘whit-chew whit-chew’ and ‘purty purty’ whistles.”
*
From the Illinois State Museum:
“Illinois schoolchildren chose the Cardinal as the state bird from a list: Cardinal 39.226 votes; Blue Bird 30,306; Meadowlark 16,237; Quail 15,843; Oriole 15,449. Six other states chose the Cardinal as their state bird: Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.”
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on August 10, 2016