Common Myna

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Common Myna
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae Genus: Acridotheres Species: A. tristis
Binomial name
Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766)

The Common Myna, Acridotheres tristis, is a myna, a member of the starling family. This bird is a common resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from Afghanistan to India and Sri Lanka. It is also known as the Indian Myna or Talking Myna for its ability to mimic human speech.

It has extended its range into southeast Asia, and has been introduced widely elsewhere, including South Africa, Israel, Hawaii, North America (especially in southern Florida), Australia and New Zealand.

This abundant passerine is typically found in open woodland, cultivation and around habitation. The Common Myna builds a nest in hole in a tree or wall. The normal clutch is 4-6 eggs. They are popular as cage birds for their singing and "speaking" abilities.

This 25 cm long bird has dark brown body and wing plumage, with large white wing patches obvious in flight. The head and throat are dark grey. The bill, bare skin around the eyes and strong legs are bright yellow. The sexes are similar. Mynas mate for life.

Like most starlings, the Common Myna is omnivorous. It feeds on insects and fruits and discarded waste from human habitation. It forages on the ground among grass for insects, and especially for grasshoppers from which it gets the generic name Acridotheres, "grasshopper hunter". It walks on the ground with occasional hops.

The song includes croaks, squawks, chirps, clicks and whistles and it often fluffs its feathers and bobs its head in singing. The Common Myna screeches warnings to its mate or other birds in cases of predators in proximity.

A close up image of the Common Myna, nesting.

Common Myna. Seen on an African Tulip tree.

A mynah bird in a Melbourne park.

Contents 1 Common Mynas in Australia 2 References 3 External links 4 Further reading 4.1 Book 4.2 Thesis 4.3 Articles

[edit] Common Mynas in Australia

In Australia, common mynas are considered to be one of the top 100 most invasive pests. They have also been voted one of the most unpopular [1]. In Australia, common mynas are known to swoop near, or indeed at, people in imitation of magpies. They also attack magpies, crows and other birds.

[edit] References

• BirdLife International (2004). Acridotheres tristis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6

[edit] External links

• Common Myna videos on the Internet Bird Collection

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Book

• Kannan, R., and D. A. James. 2001. Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis). In The Birds of North America, No. 583 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

[edit] Thesis

• Tunhikorn S. Ph.D. (1989). Resource partitioning of four sympatric mynas and starlings (Sturnidae) in Thailand. Oregon State University, United States -- Oregon.

[edit] Articles

• Baker AJ & Moeed A. (1979). Evolution in the Introduced New-Zealand Populations of the Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis Aves Sturnidae. Canadian Journal of Zoology. vol 57, no 3. p. 570-584.

• Baker AJ & Moeed A. (1980). MORPHOMETRIC VARIATION IN INDIAN SAMPLES OF THE COMMON MYNA, ACRIDOTHERES-TRISTIS (AVES, STURNIDAE). Bijdragen Tot De Dierkunde. vol 50, no 2. p. 351-363.

• Baker AJ & Moeed A. (1987). RAPID GENETIC DIFFERENTIATION AND FOUNDER EFFECT IN COLONIZING POPULATIONS OF COMMON MYNAS (ACRIDOTHERES-TRISTIS). Evolution. vol 41, no 3. p. 525-538.

• Bharucha EK. (1989). Common Myna as a Campfollower of Lesser Whistling Teals. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 86, no 3.

• Bilgin CC. (1996). First record of the common myna (Acridotheres tristis) from Ankara, Turkey. Zoology in the Middle East. vol 13, no 0. p. 25-26.

• Bilqees FM, Khatoon N & Haseeb MF. (2004). Neoechinorhynchotaenia sindhensis N. gen., N. sp. from the bird Acridotheres tristis of Sindh, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Zoology. vol 36, no 3. p. 207-209.

• Chandra S, Agarwal GP & Saxena AK. (1988). Seasonal Changes in the Population of Mallophaga on Acridotheres-Tristis. Angewandte Parasitologie. vol 29, no 4. p. 244-249.

• Chandra S, Agarwal GP & Saxena AK. (1989). Distribution of Mallophaga on the Body of Acridotheres-Tristis Aves. Angewandte Parasitologie. vol 30, no 1. p. 39-42.

• Chandra S, Agarwal GP, Singh SPN & Saxena AK. (1990). Seasonal Changes in a Population of Menacanthus-Eurysternus Mallophaga Amblycera on the Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis. International Journal for Parasitology. vol 20, no 8. p. 1063-1066.

• Chaturvedi CM & Thapliyal JP. (1979). Comparative Study of Adrenal Cycles in 3 Species of Indian Birds Athene-Brama Acridotheres-Tristis and Coturnix-Coturnix. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. vol 17, no 10. p. 1049-1052.

• Chauhan RB, Parasharya BM & Yadav DN. (1998). The food of nestlings of Indian Myna acridotheres tristis. In Dhindsa, M S [Editor], Rao, P S [Editor], Parasharya, B M [Editor] Birds in agricultural ecosystem 138-148, 1998. Society for Applied Ornithology (India) {a}, A. P. Agricultural University, Rajendranagar 500 030, India.

• Choudhury A. (1998). Common myna feeding a fledgling koel. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 95, no 1.

• Crisp H & Lill A. (2006). City slickers: Habitat use and foraging in urban Common Mynas Acridotheres tristis. Corella. vol 30, no 1. p. 9-15.

• Davidar ERC. (1991). 14. Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis Linn. Fishing. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 88, no 2.

• Dhanda SK & Dhindsa MS. (1993). Eviction of ring dove, Streptopelia decaocto, from a nest box by common myna, Acridotheres tristis. Pavo. vol 31, no 1-2. p. 35-38.

• Dhanda SK & Dhindsa MS. (1996). Breeding performance of Indian Myna Acridotheres tristis in nestboxes and natural sites. Ibis. vol 138, no 4. p. 788-791.

• Dhanda SK & Dhindsa MS. (1996). Intraspecific brood parasitism in the common myna Acridotheres tristis (Linn.). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 93, no 1. p. 91-93.

• Dhanda SK & Dhindsa MS. (1998). Breeding ecology of common myna Acridotheres tristis with special reference to the effect of season and habitat on reproductive variables. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 95, no 1. p. 43-56.

• Fleischer RC, Williams RN & Baker AJ. (1991). Genetic Variation within and among Populations of the Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis in Hawaii USA. Journal of Heredity. vol 82, no 3. p. 205-208.

• Gibson AR, Baker AJ & Moeed A. (1984). Morphometric Variation in Introduced Populations of the Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis an Application of the Jackknife to Principal Component Analysis. Systematic Zoology. vol 33, no 4. p. 408-421.

• Greig-Smith P. (1982). Behavior of Birds Entering and Leaving Communal Roosts of Madagascar Fodies Foudia-Madagascariensis and Indian Mynahs Acridotheres-Tristis. Ibis. vol 124, no 4. p. 529-534.

• Gupta RC & Goel P. (1994). On the roosting behaviour of Bank myna, common myna and pied myna. Geobios. vol 21, no 2. p. 93-100.

• Hermes N. (1986). A Census of the Common Mynah Acridotheres-Tristis Along an Axis of Dispersal. Corella. vol 10, no 2. p. 55-57.

• Homan P. (2000). Excluding the Common Myna Acridotheres tristis from artificial nest boxes using a baffle. Victorian Naturalist. vol 117, no 2.

• Hone J. (1978). Introduction and Spread of the Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis in New-South-Wales Australia. Emu. vol 78, no 4. p. 227-230.

• Ishtiaq F, Beadell JS, Baker AJ, Rahmani AR, Jhala YV & Fleischer RC. (2006). Prevalence and evolutionary relationships of haematozoan parasites in native versus introduced populations of common myna Acridotheres tristis. Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences Series B. vol 273, no 1586. p. 587-594.

• Jadhav BV & Dandawate RR. (2004). A new species of the genus Lapwingia (Singh 1952) from Acridotheres tristis at Aurangabad, India. Uttar Pradesh Journal of Zoology. vol 24, no 2. p. 209-211.

• Kumar A, Kumar B, Arora MP, Kumar S & Tyagi R. (2004). Effect of environmental factors on annual reproductive cycle of female common myna Acridotheres tristis. Journal of Experimental Zoology India. vol 7, no 2. p. 313-318.

• Mahabal A. (1993). Activity-time budget of Indian myna Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus) during the breeding season. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 90, no 1. p. 96-97.

• Mahabal A. (1993). Communal display behaviour of Indian myna, Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus). Pavo. vol 31, no 1-2. p. 45-54.

• Mahabal A. (1997). Communal roosting in common mynas Acridotheres tristis and its functional significance. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 94, no 2. p. 342-349.

• Mahabal A, Bastawade DB & Vaidya VG. (1990). Spatial and Temporal Fluctuations in the Populations of Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis Linnaeus in and around an Indian City. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 87, no 3. p. 392-398.

• Mahabal A & Bastawde DB. (1991). Mixed roosting associates of Indian Myna Acridotheres tristis in Pune City, India. Pavo. vol 29, no 1-2. p. 23-32.

• Mahabal A & Vaidya VG. (1989). Diurnal Rhythms and Seasonal Changes in the Roosting Behavior of Indian Myna Acridotheres-Tristis Linnaeus. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences Animal Sciences. vol 98, no 3. p. 199-210.

• Malhi CS. (1987). Hoarding Behavior in Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis. Zeitschrift fuer Angewandte Zoologie. vol 74, no 2. p. 247-248.

• Mallick B & Sarkar AK. (1982). Observation on Cadmium Damage in Ovary of Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis. Proceedings of the Zoological Society. vol 35, no 1-2. p. 23-26.

• Martin WK. (1996). The current and potential distribution of the common myna Acridotheres tristis in Australia. Emu. vol 96, p. 166-173.

• Pawar SB & Shinde GB. (2003). A new species Valipora kallamensis n.sp. (Cestoda: Dilepididae) from Acridotheres tristis at Kallam, India. Uttar Pradesh Journal of Zoology. vol 23, no 2. p. 167-169.

• Pell AS & Tidemann CR. (1997). The ecology of the Common Myna in urban nature reserves in the Australian Capital Territory. Emu. vol 97, p. 141-149.

• Rahman MK & Husain KZ. (1988). Notes on the Breeding Record of the Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis-Tristis Linnaeus. Bangladesh Journal of Zoology. vol 16, no 2. p. 155-158.

• Salunkhe PS. (1999). Albino myna (Acridotheres tristis) near Vita, in Maharashtra. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 96, no 3.

• Sengupta S. (1976). Food and Feeding Ecology of the Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy Part B Biological Sciences. vol 42, no 6. p. 338-345.

• Sood ML & Dang HR. (1978). Diplotriaena-Bhamoensis a Nematode Infection in Acridotheres-Tristis and Acridotheres-Ginginianus. Rivista di Parassitologia. vol 39, no 2-3. p. 113-116.

• Srivastava R, Kumar S, Gupta N, Singh SK & Saxena AK. (2003). Path coefficient analysis of correlation between breeding cycles of the common myna Acridotheres tristis (Passeriformes: Sturnidae) and its phthirapteran ectoparasites. Folia Parasitologica. vol 50, no 4. p. 315-316.

• Telecky TM. (1988). Multiple Parentage in the Permanently Monogamous Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis. Pacific Science. vol 42, no 1-2. p. 133-134.

• Toor HS & Dhindsa MS. (1980). A New Nesting Site of Common Myna Acridotheres-Tristis in the Punjab India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. vol 77, no 2. p. 329-330.

• Uniyal DP. (2004). A note on behavioural observation of Rhesus Monkey (Macaca mulatta) and Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis). Indian Forester. vol 130, no 4. p. 469-470.