# 5799g - 2023 First-Class Forever Stamp - Endangered Species: Masked Bobwhite Quail

U.S. #5799g
2023 Masked Bobwhite Quail – Endangered Species

• Part of the Endangered Species set celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act
• Design pictures a photograph by Joel Sartore’s famous “Photo Ark” project

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Endangered Species
Value:  63¢, First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  May 19, 2023
First Day City:  Wall, South Dakota
Quantity Issued:  30,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset, Flexographic
Format:  Panes of 20
Tagging:  Phosphor tagged paper

Why the stamp was issued:  To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act and the endangered masked bobwhite quail.

About the stamp design:  Like the others in the set, the photograph on the stamp is from Joel Sartore’s famous “Photo Ark” project.  They are among over 13,000 the National Geographic photographer has taken in his quest to shoot photos of as many animal species as possible.

Special design details:  Stamp includes “Endangered” and the common name of the species.

First Day City:  First Day of Issue Ceremony was in Wall, South Dakota, at the National Grasslands Visitor Center.  The center encourages visitors to see the 20 National Grasslands and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.  These habitats are home to the black-footed ferret, one of the endangered species pictured in the set of stamps.

About the Endangered Species set:  The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28.  The legislation “protect[s] species and the ecosystems upon which they depend,” with a goal “to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost.”  The ESA is jointly administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service.

In 2023, the US Postal Service celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the ESA with a set of 20 Forever stamps.  The stamps were issued on Endangered Species Day, which lands on the third Friday in May.  Each design pictures a different endangered species, representing only a small handful of the over 1,300 plants and animals protected under the ESA as of 2023.  The images used for the stamps were part of Joel Sartore’s “Photo Ark.”  Partnering with National Geographic, he set out to capture 20,000 species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries around the world.  Together, they are determined to intimately picture each species in order to educate and bring awareness to their preservation.  Sartore calls his work as a photographer a “mission to document endangered species and landscapes in order to show a world worth saving.”

Thanks to the ESA, many plant and animal species that were once endangered have made a comeback.  With the continued effort of conservationists, volunteers, and increased awareness, even more species can make their way back from the brink of extinction one day.

History the stamp represents:  The masked bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus ridgwayi) is a subspecies of quail originally found throughout Arizona and Mexico.  However, over the years, their numbers have decreased significantly, and they are listed as an endangered species.  In fact, in 1904, masked bobwhite quail were known as one of the rarest birds in Arizona.

Masked bobwhite quail are easily distinguished from other bobwhite species by their cinnamon red-brown breast.  They also have a black head and throat with a distinct white stripe over each eye.  Females have duller plumage than males.  The masked bobwhite’s coloring allows these quails to blend in with their savanna grassland habitat.

When ranching expanded into Arizona around the early 1900s, native grasslands, which masked bobwhite quail depended on, began to shrink.  This meant less food, water, and protection for the quail, and their numbers began to fall.  By 1950, it was nearly extinct in the wild, and it was put under the protection of the Endangered Species Act in 1973.  Since then, captive breeding has been fairly successful, but reintroduction efforts have been met with mixed results.  However, conservationists have not given up and they continue to improve their methods.  Thanks to them, there is still hope for wild populations to make a comeback.