A Myna Problem
By Mike • October 9, 2007 • 22 commentsHere in North America, we contend unendingly with invasive birds like the European Starling, Mute Swan, and House Sparrow. In Australia, they are grappling with the threat of the Common Myna. The Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis), also called Indian Myna and House Myna, ranges naturally from Afghanistan to Indochina, but has been introduced into tropical and subtropical oceanic habitats around the world. As anyone with knowledge of how alien species can destabilize even robust ecosystems might surmise, the Myna is causing major problems.
Give credit where credit is due. The Common Myna is a good looking bird. Chocolate brown with a black head, the myna makes a bold statement with its brilliant yellow beak, eye patch, and legs. It also walks rather than hops, just like its rapacious relative the Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris.
Common Myna, Bangkok, Thailand
Beautiful and belligerent, the Common Myna is one of the world’s most successful bird species. They are super-competitors, one of only three birds on the list of One Hundred of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species. The Common Indian Myna website is quite voluble on the length and breadth of this bird’s depredations: they damage fruit and grain crops, their noise and smell can be annoying where they are in large numbers, they spread mites and disease to people and domestic animals, and they sometimes snatch food off people’s plates in outdoor eating areas. There are even a few rare records of mynas attacking people.
The myna’s worst offense is its own success, as it thrives at the expense of native species. In Australia, Common Mynas reduce biodiversity by fighting for hollows with native birds, destroying their eggs and chicks and stopping them from breeding. They also evict small mammals, like Sugar Gliders from hollows, which are in short supply over much of Australia because of clearing for agriculture. When a single myna is too weak to dislodge a competitor, a group of them will form a mob. Behavior like that doesn’t exactly endear a foreign species to its hosts; the myna beat out stiff competition like the Cane Toad and Cockroach for the coveted 2007 Pest of Australia Award.
Common Myna, Sydney, Australia
The scope of the myna invasion is daunting to say the least. Even if there was a way to diminish, say, the North American population of House Sparrows, who could afford such a vast initiative? If anger is impetus enough, the Australian people will win this war. However, a long history of adaptable invasive avifauna assures us that it takes more than just elaborate cages, multi-sound traps, and wrath to deter robust ruffians like these. In the meantime, perhaps they can take solace in the fact that the Common Myna is being outcompeted in its own turf by its own cousin, the Javan Myna. This invader, first detected in Singapore in the 1920s is now the most common bird in the country. Turnabout is fair play, right?
An Invasive Trifecta: Common Myna, Feral Pigeon, and Spotted Dove. Melbourne, Australia
Photos copyright Charlie Moores 2007
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The Common Myna is apparently doing rather well in the Miami area, could be we have to deal with it ourselves soon…
It’s one of the most noticeable birds in urban parts of South Africa too - you can’t go to Johanesburg/Pretoria without tripping over them. Introduced birds - not a good idea eh?
I can imagine how Aussies must be feeling. I can’t even put out bulk seed in the feeder anymore because so many house sparrows take it over, making a mess, and generally swarming the feeder to the point of pushing away finches, chickadees, and other small birds that might like some seed.
The European Starlings are just everywhere, too. Huge flocks. Although they don’t pose a problem at the feeder, they must be causing problems, as all of those birds need to eat and nest.
Hopefully someone contains the Myna in Miami before it spreads throughout the US. Invasive species are nice, if they would stay balanced, like the local species. But, inevitably, they turn out to be better adapted and more aggressive and end up becoming so numerous that the locals can’t win. Too bad.
lovin this website for some reason <(:)
Im from Australia and believe when I say that they are so much more annoying then what this website claims. for exapmle one day when i was eating some fish and chips one of those little buggers came and swiped a bit of fish from from right infront of me. i was like omfg wtf?!? Then it came back but there was two of them this time so i had to get up and move to a different place because they kept trying to snatch my food
They must be stopped!
I am reporting from Brisbane, Australia. This morning May ‘08 I was returning from a car trip and saw a Common Mynah pecking at an intact Common Mynah laying in the road. The pecking bird flew onto an above branch as I stopped to see if the injured bird needed my aid but it appeared lifeless and dead. Approx 2hs later when taking the dog for a walk the bird in the road had been dragged to the kerb and had it’s tail feathers pecked away revealing a bloodied patch of bare skin and also the feathers on the back of the head were pecked off. I don’t believe it was interfered with by a cat after I initally saw it due to the aggressive behaviour of the attacking Mynor. Has anyone else witnessed a one on one attack like this?
They are all over Hawaii, too — one of the most common birds there, from downtown Honolulu, to the farmlands of central Oahu, out into the forests of Waianae. In Hawaii, unless you go WAY up into the mountrains, every bird you see will be an introduced species.
We need to train birds of prey to hunt down these invaders. This a natural method without reverting to other methods (chemical etc), which have an impact on bird and animal species. It is annoying to wake up in the morning and hearing this bird competing in song with other birds found in the bushveldt in South Africa.
mynas are important in our ecosystem we need to save them
only the noisy myna is important to our ecosystem.
on the other hand they common myna IS NOT!!!
all they do is bother everyone
I witness every day how they torment and invade other bird species territories and nests. My opinion is also shared with many people in South Africa. Why do poeple hate myna do not understand the impact of this bird in a habitat other than their original environment. Kill them!!!!
I live on the mid north coast of NSW Australia. I am employed by Landcare NSW to help control the spread of the Indian/Common Myna in our area. I am coordinating a trapping and controlled shooting program which is proving quite successful.
Not only do these birds deplete biodiversity they are also a human health risk, especially if they are breeding or roosting near your home. Bird lice infestations are not pleasant and can take a long time to clear!
I feel uncomfortable about killing any animal due to human error (introducing them) … however i have to remind myself and you that by taking one life you are in effect saving many more lives!
find out more at http://www.indianmyna.org
The only real PEST on this planet is the human being himself.
Talk about ‘threat to Nature’!
Leave animals alone!
Stop killing them for your own stupid greed!
Common myna is a beautiful bird with a wonderful song.
And it’s gotta feed itself to survive just like you guys.
hi Sibel and all
i commented earlier on the 11th November.
i understand your concern, but in my opinion facilitating an Indian Myna / Common Myna control program, we are minimising the effects of past human error. i know this is not fair and there is no doubt this planet would be happier without humans. i see my job as trying to help regain some balance from the introduction of modern humans to planet earth, or perhaps the introduction of greed or further more the mind set of a non dual reality.
they are beautiful and wonderful but just as beautiful and wonderful are all the native species they are killing. and they kill not just to eat, they kill their own kind and kill for breeding territory (sounds familiar). their biological behaviour program makes them scratch out chicks and unhatched eggs of Parrots, Lorikeets or Kookaburras (plus many many more species) just because the decided to nest near by!
perhaps im kinda like the UN for the fauna world…. perhaps… sometimes we have to intervene. it is real.
thank you
There are special traps you can buy which trap common mynas and starlings. I have heard that somewhere, quite a few people in a neighbourhood bought these traps and actually eliminated all the common mynas in their area!
I was brought up with the belief that they are vermine…
i used to be a kinder garden teacher and one cold winter day i noticed a masked weaver that really look rattled by the winter he was sooo thin so each time i gave the children sandwhiches i gave him some too and eventually he was looking beautiful! The nicest looking bird around for the time of year - his feathers were bright again and he was looking healthy…by mid springi had a small flock of various birds coming for snack time i would whistle and they would come out of the tree tops… The Mynahs used to wait until the other birds had finished before they came down i began watching the mynah family that lived near by and to my amazement they are really very caring birds. The parents still ate with previous years hatchlings (who by now are almost adult) when that seasong chicks were old enough the entire family ate together… and cared for one another. The older chicks “babysat” the younger ones and so on…
They never chased the weavers and sparrows away they mere ate on the otherside of the wall, IT WAS THE PIDGEONS that ruined it for them all the pigeons started to crowd me and the mess they made was terrible that to spite the fact i enjoyed my little friends coming for lunch i had to stop feeding them. Is there a kill pigeon website??? now they are pests - look at London New York Johannesburg Pretoria anywhere there are lots of people there are lots of pigeons!
I just moved into a house in Melbourne Australia.Ive notice quite a large number of myna birds in the area.These little pests are not only noisy,they swoop and attack people that walk past my house.Ive recently seen one of the little buggers harras a crow in flight.Never before have i had so much hate for these pests.
I live in Pacific Harbour in Fiji. Sitting at the end of my swimming pool I have a large stone buddha. Through out the day in singles or in pairs our native Kingfisher birds rests on the head of the buddha and dive into the swimming pool, quickly returning to buddha’s head to preen themselves…a beautiful sight…they each spend a little of time then fly off to do their thing! Occasionally, I also have our local parrots that roost high in the trees to nibble on the seeds of our palms trees and on the Qaraniqio River banks amongst the mangrove there is always a white and grey heron, a pair, who make their way through the mangrove at low tide, looking for crab or small fish…then you have the Indian mynah birds…
I am so over these “flying rats”, that I am now on a rampage to remove them once and for all…they are nesting right now, so we’ve removed nests from every crevice in the roof of our villa and nailed several layers of chicken wire in place. Being very territorial they are now fighting for new territory. They are definitely aggressive, ruthless, cheeky, noisy and multiply rapidly. The fact that they eat the eggs of our native birds and the fact that they take over the nesting areas of our natives, just leaves me so furious. I have wondered why we have allowed these birds to multiply as rapidly as they have to the point that it could be a hopeless exercise to rid us of these pests!!
Basically I want to make our area a safe haven for our native birds…can anyone give me ideas on how I can do this…I am desperate to do what I can to save what endemic species we have already and do away with the Indian Mynah’s for good…
I love cats, but choose not to have one for the simple reason that I don’t want the natives spooked…
Any ideas will be well received…vinaka
From Singapore. Believe it or not. The introduced Javan Mynah has outcompeted the Common Mynah to become the dominant species of flying rats here. Look out!!!
I live on the East coast of Australia, we have a lot of mynah’s around our area. I have been aware they are a pest for some time.
However yesterday my wife received a canarie for a present, she put the cage just inside near the backdoor, with only the screendoor closed
Unbelievably, the mynahs were constantly hanging onto the outside of the screen just looking at the canarie. I don’t know what their intentions were but I would not have liked to open the door or let the canarie out. I doubt he would have lived for long, they seemed vicious to me.
How can I kill them?
i wish some body could ship some of this birds to me in canada i would pay for shipping
I think Antonio should reconsider his comment. what is your intent? do you understand the consequences of this or are only trying to get a reaction on your comment!
I relocated to Zambia (africa) with no myna in sight. what a pleasure. they should stay in their natural habitat!