If you feel a deep antipathy towards Acridotheres tristis, otherwise known as the Common or Indian Myna, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. The Common Myna inspires such loathing that complete strangers around the world find common cause and even friendship in their collective desire to exterminate the brutes. In fact, a number of readers regularly trade murderous tips on a comment thread on this very blog. We don’t condone such actions, of course, but sometimes I have to admire how passionate these people feel!
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.
New Zealanders generally have a deep antipathy against most introduced species, and mynas are no exception. We are fortunate in Wellington that they do not range this far south. Personally I find them lovely birds where they belong.
Wow, this is new to me. Bombay surburbs (northwards) have a larger population of the common mynas. I met them when I was a boy, visiting extended family in a small village in Gujarat. My dad used a gujarati word to identify them – ‘kaabraa’. The word basically is an adjective that means noisy and harsh. The same word is sometimes used to describe women in our community because when they get together, they are really noisy :))
I like the myna otherwise. Hardy chaps and less annoying (to me) than the cunning common crow.
Awww…. I just admired a family of Mynas with youngsters this morning.
My only experience with a Common Myna (I think it was Common) was with a caged bird, at a restaurant, and I was absolutely blown away by 1) its sleek black beauty set off by the red bill, and 2) the perfection of its imitation of the human voice. I was watching it, or I never would have believed that that voice was coming from a bird, right down to the throaty female laugh. Incredible!
I have resorted to trying to shoot Indian Minahs . Their numbers increase yearly , the problem is they absolutely destroy indigenous birds in our garden , The cape Robin and the Thrush ,,nothing more upsetting then to see a minah with baby robins running on the lawn .
I wish I knew how one can catch them ,There are people who like to raize them ,, they are extremely clever ,,
But at the school across the road there are some 60 odd of them
next year there will be more than 100 .
They are extremely destructive ,
Can anyone help ?
Rein