Thursday 9 February 2012

Myna Bird

In Hawkes Bay and north of here in The North Island lives a non-native passerine from Asia called a Myna Bird.  It's not to be confused with the Common Hill Myna (often spelt Mynah in the UK) although they are, I think, both members of the Starling family.  The Myna to which I am referring is very common in the neighbourhood and for some inexplicable reason spends a lot of time feeding on the roadsides in it's habitat areas.  It struts around the croquet lawns and the paddock in front of The Cottage.  From the photo you get no idea of its size which is about 24cm or just under 10inches long.


7 comments:

  1. GB: The voices seem to be very varied but here we have Tui and Bellbird with supremely beautiful voices to overshadow the Myna. on Myna Bird

    in response to These birds visit our garden at home :) They have beautiful voices., by Ruby.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi from ruralnTaranaki . We have been on our present property for 25 years and whedn we first arrived so did a pair of Mynahs. They strutted and warned everyone else with wings when the Siaamese entered the garden. One day about 3 years ago there were 3. There is now only 2 o he seems to be young and sleek and the other walks and hobbles along when I fed in the morning. It is very unkempt. Do you think it is possible that this one is one of the originals. They live happily along all the birds,This,Bell birds, Finches and Wax eyes many more...and never aggressive to others bird's.

      Delete
  2. GB: Arrogant birds they are, Monica. They do strut! on Myna Bird

    in response to Strutting seems to be the right word ;), by DawnTreader.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GB: I've never gone quite that far in my thoughts, Katherine, but I certainly know how you feel. on Myna Bird

    in response to It's unfair, really, that the body language of these birds should make me dislike them... I who get teary when hitting a sparrow in the car, am sometimes momentarily filled with an evil desire to drive my car onto dangerous ditch- and gravel-strewn verges to try and collide with these arrogant-looking birds who *just* walk only as fast as they economically need to, to get out of the way., by Katherine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. GB: Whilst I don't like them I've never noticed them displaying any aggression to other birds and they don't seem to have taken over here as you describe. The most aggressive birds that I encounter are the Australasian Magpies. They will happily attack a human at nesting time if he or she goes anywhere near their territory. on Myna Bird

    in response to Also known as the Indian Myna. These birds are a menace and are very aggressive to others. I live in Brisbane and when I arrived here from HB 30 years ago there were none of them here. Now they are here in great numbers and have taken over from the native birds around our neighbourhood. There is even a group of people in Brisbane who have formed to combat their spread. They have a cousin in Australia called the Noisy Myna which has a completely different demeanour and is not so aggressive., by Craft.

    ReplyDelete
  5. According to what I see you have blogged four comments on your own post - they appear to bne responses to what other folk, like Monica, have said but there's no sign of Monica or anyone else's comments. It looks like I'm having the problem SP had a while ago.... Help me someone!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I re-built the post I couldn't post in other people's identities so I simply cut and pasted the comments from my Dashboard which appear as GB said.....in response to so and so's original comment and posted each one which had to be in my name.

      Delete