Know about Common Myna ( Acridotheres tristis)

Today I am going to tell you some interesting and amazing facts about an omnivorous native bird locally known to us as Lali. Its scientific name is Acridotheres tristis and it is also sometimes called as Common Myna.  It is a native bird of south Asia and it is found abandoned in this part of world where I live.

They are regular visitors of my home garden and they spent a lot of their time here searching for food, collecting straws and usually chirping happily. They are lively, aggressive and noisy birds that love to live in pairs or in flocks of twenty to thirty birds.

This summer I have an opportunity to observe their breeding nature when a pair of mynas starts making a nest in our bird house.  It’s very exciting experience for me to observe their breeding behavior and to wait for the hatching birds to come out and fly away.

 It was fun and gradually became my favourite past time activity to observe their day to day activities and how they collect straws, twigs and rubbish for using as nesting materials.  They mostly build their nests in trees holes, in abandoned nests of woodpeckers, and rooftops etc. This time they built their nest on a bird house.  I tried to peek on their nest and found it rather untidy structure made of leaves, grass, roots and mostly twigs of neem tree.

Their breeding season lasts throughout the year but they mostly breed in summer season ( from march to June)  and during the breeding season, their day time activities include  scanning the environment, the scanned the environment before selecting a suitable place of their nest, nesting activities ( collecting material for their nest), vocalization, feeding, and searching for foods etc.  

They are omnivorous bird and can snatch food whenever possible.  They are notorious for their snatching and stealing habits  and I have some bad experience with this bird when they try to snatch my food from my hands while I was busy gossiping with my friends  in  the  college lawn.

The best time to observe their behavior is in the morning when they came out for the search of food. They usually walk on the ground/ grass with occasional hops and scavenge the grass for insects especially grasshoppers and this is how they have gained their genetic name Acridotheres or grasshopper.

 It’s a pleasant delight to see them hopping on the grass searching for their desired food. What I do not like about them is their screeching habits and they do it so frequently that annoy me even more.  They vocalize in unison which is known as communal noise. They screech when taking off flights or they screeches warning to their mate in cases of predators close by.  

In our culture, they are symbol of everlasting love.

They are worldwide known for their imitating nature. They are excellent imitator and have an ability to mimic almost any sound they hear and therefore they are very popular as cage birds for their singing and speaking abilities.

Ten things you should know about common mayna

       

1- Acridotheres is a Greek word which means a locus hunter. 

2- They are native to Asia.

 3- They are lively, aggressive and noisy birds that love to live in pairs or in flocks of twenty to thirty birds.

 4- They are easily identified by their brown body, black hooded head and the bare yellow patch behind the eye.

 5- The word mynah derives from the Sanskrit madana which means “bubbling with joy”.

 6- They are omnivorous bird and feed on insects, arachnids, reptiles, seeds, grain, fruits and discarded human food etc. 

7- The common myna is a hollow nesting species. 

8- In Sanskrit literature, one of the names for the common myna includes Kalahapriya, which means “one who is fond of arguments” referring to the quarrelsome nature of this bird. 

9- They vocalize in unison which is known as communal noise. 

10- They are excellent imitator and popular as cage birds for their singing and speaking abilities. 

  Image credits:

Common myna1

Common myna2