Great Tit stamp from the Netherlands

On January 31, 2011 TNT Post issued a new stamp featuring the Great Tit. This stamp is the first in a new ‘Naturalis series’.

The Great Tit is a distinctive bird, with a black head and neck, prominent white cheeks, olive upperparts and yellow underparts, with some variation amongst the numerous subspecies. It is predominantly insectivorous in the summer, but will consume a wider range of food items in the winter months. Like all tits it is a cavity nester, usually nesting in a hole in a tree. The female lays around 12 eggs and incubates them alone, although both parents raise the chicks. In most years the pair will raise two broods. The nests may be raided by woodpeckers, squirrels and weasels and infested with fleas, and adults may be hunted by Sparrow hawks. The Great Tit has adapted well to human changes in the environment and is a common and familiar bird in urban parks and gardens.