Bali Starling
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| Leucopsar rothschildi Stresemann, 1912 |
The Bali Starling, Leucopsar rothschildi also known as Rothschild’s Mynah, Bali Myna or Bali Mynah is a medium-sized, up to 25cm long, stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. The bird has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow bill. Both sexes are similar.
The Bali Starling is distributed and endemic to the island of Bali in Indonesia, where it is the island's only surviving endemic species. This rare bird was discovered in 1910. The other Bali's endemic, the Bali Tiger, was declared extinct in 1937.
The scientific name commemorates the British ornithologist Lord Rothschild, who described the bird in 1912.
In 1991, the Bali Starling was designated the fauna symbol of Bali.
The Bali Starling is critically endangered, hovering immediately above extinction in the wild for several years now (BirdLife International 2006). The last stronghold of the species is at Bali Barat National Park. About 1,000 individuals are believed to survive in captivity. In fact, the Bali Starling is so much in danger that many parks have been set up just for the Bali Starling's survival. Its decline towards extinction has been caused by the urbanization of the island and by illegal trapping for the caged-bird trade. The Bali Starling is listed in Appendix I of CITES.
[edit] Gallery
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2006). Leucopsar rothschildi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a justification of why this species is critically endangered and the criteria used
[edit] External links
- ARKive - images and movies of the Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi)
- BirdLife Species Factsheet
- IUCN Red List
- Red Data Book
