A bird-themed stamp set due to be issued by Maltapost tomorrow, has been praised by the CEO of BirdLife Malta Mark Sultana, though he also pointed out errors in the finer details of explanatory literature.

"Kudos for the initiative but a failing on the details," Mr Vella said.

He noted that MaltaPost in its literature had said that the stamp set "illustrates the Shearwater, a species that is commonly seen along the Maltese shores. The common name, ‘Shearwater' describes the birds' habit of gliding on stiff wings along the troughs of waves. In Maltese the bird is known as Ċiefa."

"I cannot understand how they plan to issue stamps tomorrow with wrong identification and stating that Shearwater is a species," Mr Sultana said on Facebook. 

Furthermore, the bird on the stamps is not a 'Ciefa' (Scopoli's Shearwater) but a Garnija (Yelkouan Shearwater).

"The mistakes highlighted are not grievous but could have been avoided," Mr Sultana said in a statement. He hoped that in the future environment NGOs like BirdLife Malta would be given the opportunity to showcase their values on stamps too.

The stamp set issue is intended to mark initiatives by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which, since 1961 has sought to conserve wildlife by engaging science and working closely with local communities. 

MaltaPost designed the set and Fran Trabalon photographed the birds featured on the stamps. The four stamps each bear a value of 75c.