飛越喀什米爾｜巴基斯坦候鳥 重寫日期｜2026/2/9

香港雖然有不少南亞裔集郵者，但南亞國家的郵票在香港卻未有形成氣候，就算是收集的也都是英國殖民時代的印度(Ceylon)郵票，來來去去就是英皇頭像為圖的郵票罷，至於近代多姿多彩的郵票當然會嗤之以鼻，不值一顧。今次我們來到巴基斯坦，這個國家處於印度次大陸西緣緊鄰西亞，受到西亞的文化影響多於印度次大陸地區。

Over Kashmir｜The migratory birds in Pakistan

However, there are no national boundaries in nature. There are only differences in geography and natural climate factors. Therefore, the introduction should also be an introduction,

不過，自然界從來就沒有國界之分，有的就是地理和氣候自然因素區別，所以引言還引言，內文就不會把地緣政治議題混為一談。巴基斯坦在2012年發行了一輯《巴基斯坦的候鳥》(The migratory birds in Pakistan)郵票，繪畫的4種雀鳥都是以長途飛行而聞名。巴基斯坦位處印度次大陸最西邊，瀕臨印度洋但巧合被北回歸綫穿越的國家，雖然歸入亞熱帶氣候，但因其國境自東北向西南的海拔高度相當大，以致北面較涼爽而南方頗為炎熱，與其他位處北回歸綫國家類似，國境內陸地區異常乾旱形成荒漠地帶， 巴基斯坦郵政發行的首日封十分細小，每枚郵票面值也剛好是國內基本郵資，全套郵票共32Rs.但仍不足以支付寄香港航空掛號的152Rs.費用。 Pakistan official first day cover is regularly small, also the denominations is low for basic rate of domestic letter, total value 32Rs. is not enough to pay the regustered airmail to Hong Kong which is 152Rs. 然而這些條件吸引遠自西伯利亞的雀鳥飛越中亞連綿的山峰到來越冬。 橫跨整個印度次大陸北面的喜瑪拉雅山脈(Himalayas)除了阻擋了由北面西伯利亞席卷南面的寒流和南面自印度洋北上的潮濕暖流之外，也阻擋了候鳥不能直接到溫暖而潮濕的印度洋地區越冬，牠們唯有從經典的西太平洋沿岸路綫至東南亞以至澳洲北部；然而喜瑪拉雅山脈西邊的比爾本賈爾嶺(Pir Panjal Range)間卻有著稍低的谷地喀什米爾，自西藏西南開始形成一條長134千米和闊32千米的走廊貫穿喜瑪拉雅山到達巴基斯坦和印度，雖然其海拔高度仍處於1.880米，但比起兩側比爾本賈爾嶺的3.000米與及喜瑪拉雅山脈足以令候鳥順利通過。喀什米爾因其相對和暖，其最低平均氣溫僅攝氏0度，山谷除了針葉林之外亦有人類在此區域作農務活動，為候鳥提供了補級。 在較早前我在中文版網誌介紹了白鸛(Ciconia ciconia)，但那是基於中歐地區而言，在亞洲區白鸛的中亞亞種(Ciconia c. asiatica)僅生活在中亞哈蕯克與吉爾吉斯，在春秋兩季循喀什米爾往返印度西面和巴基斯坦東南的印度洋沿岸平原，以至印度南方和斯里蘭卡的沼澤渡冬。 無危級別的琵嘴鴨(Spatula clypeata)廣泛地在歐亞大陸北部與及北美洲西面作繁殖地區，由於分佈範圍太大縱便琵嘴鴨係候鳥，有一部分卻選擇在繁殖地與渡冬地之間的地方作為留鳥長期定居生活，惟亞洲區域並沒有留鳥的紀錄。琵嘴鴨在亞洲的遷移路綫除了喀什米爾外也有經典的西太平洋路綫，故牠們也會在整個南亞地區渡冬。 第3枚郵票也即是首日封上左下角的郵票英文標註「Snow Geese」，但按照典籍巴基斯坦以至亞洲區域並無雪雁(Anser caerulescens) 塔吉克在1996年印行的鳥類郵票其中一枚是班頭雁，留意額頭上黑色毛髮的分別。 A Bar-headed Goose stamp issued by Tajikistan, one of six stamps of bird issue in 1996, please note that the different of forelock between it and Snow Goose. 這物種，牠們僅生活在北美洲與及墨西哥之間，而中國東邊等地實屬罕見，但郵票上的雪雁並未有繪畫錯誤而令人費解。事實上一般而言出現在印度次大陸區域的雁類通常是班頭雁(Anser indicus)，牠們屬於高原地帶的雀鳥，僅在新疆、西藏以及中國青海省和內蒙古繁殖，以喀什米爾與緬甸山谷之間的路綫向南至孟加拉灣沼澤地渡冬。 最後要介紹的是西伯利亞白鶴(Grus leucogeranus)，一般簡單地稱作白鶴，其巨型身軀與鮮紅色前喙令其變得高辨識度，在亞洲其分開兩組族群東面一組自遠東雅庫特地區向南至中國鄱陽湖；西面一組在西伯利亞繁殖，惟牠們卻分開兩組南遷，其一是從哈蕯克向西至裏海，另一組則是穿越喀什米爾至印度中部的凱奧拉德奧國家公園 (Keoladeo National Park)，故巴基斯坦係屬白鶴遷徙路綫上，其不明原因下數量急劇下降令牠成為極危物種。 感謝巴基斯坦集郵同好除了寄贈首日封也幫忙製作了一套原圖片，其中一幅雖蓋錯了日戳但仍然是漂亮的收藏品。

and the text will not confuse geopolitical issues. Pakistan released a series “The migratory birds in Pakistan” in 2012, the four species of birds in the painting are all famous for their long-distance flights. Pakistan is located in the westernmost part of the Indian subcontinent, bordering the Indian Ocean but coincidentally crossed by the Tropic of Cancer. Although it has a subtropical climate, the altitude of its border from northeast to southwest is quite large, so the north is cooler and the south is quite hot. Similar to other countries located on the Tropic of Cancer, the inland areas of the country are abnormally dry and form desert areas, these conditions attract birds from Siberia to fly over the continuous peaks of Central Asia for the winter.

The Himalayas, which span the entire northern part of the Indian subcontinent, not only block the cold current from Siberia in the north and the warm and humid current from the Indian Ocean in the south, but also prevent migratory birds from directly going to the warm and humid Indian Ocean to spend the winter. They can only take the classic west Pacific coast route to Southeast Asia and even northern Australia; there is a slightly lower valley in Kashmir between the Pir Panjal Range to the west of the Himalayas. Starting from southwest Tibet, a 134 kilometers long and 32 kilometers wide corridor is formed through the Himalayas to Pakistan and India. Although its altitude is still 1.880 meters, compared with the 3.000 meters of Pir Panjal Range and the Himalayan Mountains on both sides, it is enough for migratory birds to pass smoothly. Kashmir is relatively warm, with the lowest average temperature being only 0°C. In addition to the coniferous forests in the valley, there are also humans doing agricultural activities in this area, which provides a supplement for migratory birds.

Earlier, I introduced the White Stork in the Chinese version of my blog, but that was based on Central Europe. In Asia, the Central Asian subspecies of the White Stork (Ciconia c. asiatica) only lives in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. In spring and autumn, it travels through Kashmir to the coastal plains of the Indian Ocean in western India and southeastern Pakistan, and even spends the winter in the swamps of southern India and Sri Lanka.

The Northern Shoveler of Least Concern breeds extensively in northern Eurasia and western North America. Due to its large distribution range, even though Northern Shoveler are migratory birds, some choose to settle as long-term residents in places between breeding grounds and wintering grounds. There are no records of resident birds in Asia. In addition to Kashmir, the migration route of Northern Shoveler in Asia also includes the classic Western Pacific route, so they also spend the winter throughout South Asia.

The third stamp, which is the stamp in the lower left corner of the first day cover, is marked “Snow Geese” in English, but according to classics, there are no Snow Goose in Pakistan or even Asia, this species only live between North America and Mexico, and are rare in places such as eastern China. However, the Snow Goose on the stamp do not have a painting mistake, which makes feel puzzling. In fact, generally speaking, the geese that appear in the Indian subcontinent are usually Bar-headed Goose. They are birds of the platea only breed in Sinkiang, Tibet, also China’s Qinghai Province and Inner Mongolia, and spend the winter in the swamps of the Bay of Bengal along the route between the Kashmir and Myanmar valleys.

The last one I want to introduce is the Siberian Crane, commonly known simply as the White Crane. Its huge body and bright red front beak make it highly recognizable.

The entire set of four stamp maxicards has produced, the top two are of White Stork and “Snow Geese”, even if there are no Snow Goose in Pakistan, here is the Siberian Crane on the left and the Northern Shoveler on the right.

整套4枚郵票都有製作原圖片，上邊兩幅分別是白鸛和雪雁，縱使巴基斯坦沒有雪雁也都完成，這裡左邊是西伯利亞白鶴和右邊是琵嘴鴨。

In Asia, it is divided into two groups, the eastern group starts from the Yakutia region in the Far East and goes south to Poyang Lake in China; The western group breeds in Siberia, but they separate into two groups and migrate south. One group goes west from Khasak to the Caspian Sea, and the other group crosses Kashmir to Keoladeo National Park in central India, thus Pakistan is on the migration route of the Siberian Crane. Its population has declined sharply for unknown reasons, making it a critically endangered species nowadays.

Thanks to fellow Pakistani philatelist who not only sent the first day covers but also helped to create a set of maxicards, although one of them has the wrong date stamp, it is still a beautiful collectible.

伸延閱讀｜
慢活｜郵購斯里蘭卡集郵品
漁舟唱晚｜中國《鄱陽湖》
^#雀郵樂 失而復得｜白鸛