New Zealand: Tui with Bear Hunt Stamps

On Thursday I got three postcards: one from New Zealand and two from Germany.

The card from New Zealand shows a Tui. One of the first things that comes to my mind when I think about New Zealand are birds. The birds of New Zealand are often endemic and include such famous ones as the Kiwi, the Kea or the Kakapo. Already in the 1770s Captain James Cook noted that the bird song was deafening. The Tui is one of these endemic birds. It is a passerine and can be found on most islands of New Zealand. They have a complex variety of songs and calls and just like parrots they can also clearly imitate human speech.

And look at these cute stamps. In the last months so many countries issued stamps about Covid-19, but I think New Zealand has some of the best. Issued on 20th May in a sheet of six they show the Bear Hunt. The Bear Hunt was a phenomenon during the Covid-19 lockdown. In New Zealand and also in other countries families were entertained and delighted by teddy bears, which were put in windows or other creative locations to create a magical experience for kids during this stressful time. Shown on these two stamps are Theodore Bear and Frontliner Bear. Theodore Bear and his friend Rudolph, who is holding the latter in this picture, had daily adventures and the stories for them became so popular that they will now be published as a book. Frontliner Bear was chosen to represent and honour the hard working medical workers. The complete sheet includes stamps with a face value of $11.70, but it is sold for $14.70 and includes a donation to the New Zealand Red Cross.

Thank You very much Lara!