Canadian stamp stories

The official birds of three provinces – the Steller's jay (British Columbia), the snowy owl (Quebec) and the black-capped chickadee (New Brunswick) – join two other species with uniquely Canadian connections, the Canada goose and the whooping crane, for the final flight in the Birds of Canada stamp series.

Biologist David Gray and stamp illustrator Keith Martin worked closely on all three sets in the series, which debuted in 2016.

“I love Keith’s approach to these stamps – using a blend of reality and abstraction to not only portray the appearance of the bird, but also capture something of its behaviour,” Gray says.

While not our official national bird, the Canada goose is an ubiquitous resident whose noisy, awe-inspiring migrations herald the arrival of winter and spring. Once fairly common in Canada, the whooping crane – included at Gray’s suggestion – declined to fewer than 15 individuals by 1941 due to habitat loss. Thanks to international conservation measures, the population now numbers several hundred, the largest flock nesting in Alberta and the Northwest Territories in Wood Buffalo National Park.

“Most Canadians will never see a whooping crane, but this stamp celebrates the fact that they are still with us,” explains Gray. “This amazing bird is one of Canada’s most successful conservation stories.”