Endangered Birds From Japan

I got these set of mint stamps from Alex(San Jose), California.

These are a set of 5 stamps containing Endangered Birds from Japan.

1. Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus fruitii) - Japanese hayabusa - 1984, 60 y.

 Also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America.While its diet consists almost exclusively of medium-sized birds, the Peregrine will occasionally hunt small mammals, small reptiles, or even insects. Reaching sexual maturity at one year, it mates for life and nests in a scrape, normally on cliff edges or, in recent times, on tall human-made structures.The back and the long pointed wings of the adult are usually bluish black to slate grey with indistinct darker barring. The Peregrine Falcon is sexually mature at the end of the first year of age, but in healthy populations they breed after two to three years of age. A pair mates for life and returns to the same nesting spot annually. The courtship flight includes a mix of aerial acrobatics, precise spirals, and steep dives. The male passes prey it has caught to the female in mid-air. To make this possible, the female actually flies upside-down to receive the food from the male's talons.

2. Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) - 1983, 60y

 This species is native to North America. Males can be very aggressive in defending territory. A pair may mate for life (up to around 20 years). The female looks virtually identical but is slightly lighter and has a different voice. Adult geese are often seen leading their goslings in a line with one parent at the front, and the other at the back of the "parade". These birds feed mainly on plant material. When feeding in water, they submerge their heads and necks to reach aquatic plants, sometimes tipping forward like a dabbling duck. Flocks of these birds often feed on leftover cultivated grains in fields, especially during migration or in winter. They also eat some insects, molluscs and crustaceans.

3. Okinawa Woodpecker/Pryer's woodpecker (Sapheopipo noguchii) - Japanese noguchi-gera   - 1983, 60 y

 It is the only member of the genus Sapheopipo. This is a medium-sized (31 cm), dark woodpecker. Their breeding habitat is subtropical, evergreen broad-leaved forest that is at least 30 years old, with tall trees of more than 20 cm in diameter. Nesting is between late February and May.This woodpecker is legally protected in Japan.

4. White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos)        - 1984, 60y

 It is the largest of the spotted woodpeckers in the western Palearctic, 24–26 cm long with wing-span 38–40 cm and has plumage similar to the Great Spotted Woodpecker, but with white bars across the wings rather than spots, and a white lower back. The male has a red crown, the female a black one. In the breeding season it excavates a nest hole about 7 cm wide and 30 cm deep in a decaying tree trunk. It lays three to five white eggs and incubates for 10–11 days.

5. Marsh Grassbird (Megalurus pryeri)  - 1984, 60y

 The typical grassbirds are medium sized warblers with short rounded wings and long graduated tails, which are often worn. The plumage is brown overall, lighter on the belly and throat, with black streaks on the back. All species have a whitish line above the eye, and some have light streaking on the chest. They range in size from 13 to 28 cm in length and 14-56 g in weight. There is little information on the breeding of the Megalurus warblers. Some studies have suggested polygamy, while others have suggested monogamy is the most important breeding system. The nest is an open or partially open cup suspended in reeds. The clutch size is two to six eggs.