Published opinions	KERKENEZ	KARTAL	DOGAN	ATMACA	SAHIN
CBoS 4th Ed.	Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)	Imperial Eagle ? (Aquila heliaca)	Pallid Harrier ? (Circus macrourus)	Sparrow Hawk ? (Accipiter nisus)	Common Buzzard ? (Buteo buteo)
CBoS 5th Ed.	Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)	Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)	Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug)	Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus)	Common Buzzard ? (Buteo buteo)
Chris Gibbins	Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)	Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)	Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug)	Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus)	Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Theme Birds on Stamps	Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)	Unidentified	Unidentified	Unidentified	Unidentified
ATA Handbook #106	Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)	Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)	Saker Falcon (hypothetical) (Falco cherrug)	Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus)	Northern Goshawk (probable) (Accipiter gentilis)
Domfil	Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)	Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)	Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus)	Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus)	Western Honey-Buzzard (Pernis apivorus)

I found a page on the web which gives Turkish names of birds.

This gives kerkenez as Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), but also küçük kerkenez as Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni).

"sah kartal" is given as Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), but the name "kartal" appears as part of several other eagles, and even the Osprey.

Eight falcons have "dogan" - Saker is "ulu dogan".

"atmaca" is given as Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter nisus).

"sahin" is given as Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo), but the same name is also included in Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) and Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus).

I think my original identifications are almost correct, with the exception of the 60k which is more likely to be Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca).

Does anyone have further comments about this set?

Comments received from a Turkish correspondent added 17 November 2003

This is the information I got from the book called "Important Bird Areas of Turkey", co-written by Gernant Magnin and Murat Yarar. This publication was sponsored by DHKD (Wildlife Protection Society of Turkey), RSPB (Royal Society of Protection of Birds), BirdLife International, and Vogelbescherming Nederland, printed in 1997.

Translations and images on stamps hold certain for the following matches:
10k - Kerkenez - Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus
220k - Atmaca - Sparrow Hawk - Accipiter nisus
270k - Sahin - Buzzard - Buteo buteo

"Kartal" is the common name given for the genus Aquila, and "Dogan" is the common name given for the genus Falco, therefore 130K was definitely never meant to be a harrier. By size of the creature depicted on 130k, it might not be a saker falcon, but could be a hobby (Falco subbuteo). This is my guess, though. For 60k stamp, the image appears to be either a golden or an imperial eagle.

Those stamps were printed to be air mail definitives in the time of issue, and I don't think Postal authorities did much care about the precision of identification of the species. The stamps were printed in sheets of hundred with perf. 12.5. Printing figures are as follows: 15 million copies of 10k, 20 million copies of 60K, 10 million copies of 130k, 4 million copies of 220k, and 1 million copies of 270k. Artwork of the stamps belongs to Mr. Burhan Özak, a Turkish painter.