Just a myna

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Windhover
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Just a myna

They are common in towns, nasty and introduced. Sadly. But they are still birds and it's not their fault they are in the wrong country. Glad I can photograph from my kitchen window sometimes. I do see better stuff too, but most fly by. :(

Kimbolina
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I've never seen a brown one before, they are different to ours here and I agree, it's not their fault, they don't know any different. Great photo.

Raven
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They are not the most popular of birds, introduced here by the colonists in 1863 they are like cane toads and continue to spread.

I kind of like them, they have lovely song and other weird noises, they also keep the garden clear of insects and can become quite tame. Young ones raised in capitivity can be taught to talk. Breed very quickly, and thus, sadly, squeeze out small native birds, can be quite vicious in groups too.

Group orientated and very chatty, mate for life and always see them in pairs or family groups. Seen a blue legged version in Fiji a few years back. Raven (Sydney NSW)

Windhover
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What do you mean by "you haven't seen a brown one" Kimbolina? Are you thinking of our native Noisy Miner? Which is in fact, a honeyeater.

birdie
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I grew up with these birds everywhere in NZ. They are cheeky, cocky, fearless on the road, smart as they can be taught to mimic and talk but are a general nuisance. Nice picture Akos but I hate them with a vengeance sorry.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Owen1
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I also don't like them but you're right, it isn't their fault. Nice shot akos.

Cheers, Owen.

Kimbolina
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Sorry Windhover, I meant ours are the Noisy Myna's, I have not seen the Common Myna (the one in your photo) before, we don't have them here.

sparrow
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we don't have them in stawell either,but i don't miss them at all!

Raven
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Thinking back on the spread of these Indian Mynas, only 10 years or so back there were none in this suburb, I have lived here for 31 years, now they are everywhere, and increasing in population as time passes.

I also have a large property at Quirindi (south of Tamworth) and I clearly remember four years ago my daughter and I were out birding when alas, I heard a familar clicking, glucking and whistling. Yes, we seen our first pair of Indian Mynas in Quirindi.

Like my favourite bird, these little pests are very intelligent, inquisitive, cocky and quite interesting to watch. They have adapted to Australia, and especially suburbia very quickly, and yes, they are a bird, and yes, it's not their fault they are here, but uncontrolled they drive out small natives like wrens etc.

Some local councils here in Sydney have Indian Mynah traps you can borrow and the council disposes of them. One of my mates just 15 minutes walk from here had eight in his trap the first morning it was set up! Still, for all their negatives, I love watching and hearing their varied whisltes, cackles and clicking sounds...Raven.

Tassie

Beautiful crisp shot there mate

Birdgirl2009
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The shot is really sharp and shows the colours very well. However, I loath these birds too. I know it was not their fault they were brought here - it was a human decision which was as well thought out as the introduction of cane toads. But we have rosella nesting boxes and Indian mynas have turfed out nesting adults, killed a female, killed babies and disposed of eggs. They are a constant menace that we are faced with year after year. I don't believe they only developed these traits in Australia either - they probably kill birds in other countries too

Windhover
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Thanks everyone for looking. Kimbolina, don't want to sound to pedantic but the Noisy Miner is spelt Miner. These Indian (sorry Holly) Mynas are either spelt as Myna or Mynah. :) Regards :)

Raven
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Around five years ago there was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald about a pair of Indian Mynahs that would board the suburban trains at West Ryde and go through picking up scraps off the floor. The pair would then disembark at Rhodes, and I presume change platforms to "work" the next train back to West Ryde. I takes me hat off to them!

One of the boys down the club told me he found an Indian Mynah nest in the eaves of a house he was knocking down, it had a polymer $10 note interwoven into the rest of the nesting materials.

We call them the "Bombay Boys" when we sight them out the back, they love the bird bath too. Raven (Sydney NSW)

birdie
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LMAO..... ah raven I love the train story...and yes I can just imagine them doing that . They are an incredibly cocky breed of bird and have a calculating type of intelligence. They "work" the roadsides methodically in NZ and only get off the road at the very last minute and then you only miss them by a whisker...but you hardly ever see them as road kill !

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Raven
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Birdie, very surprised to learn that they are in NZ too, do you know the history on how they were introduced? Would be most interested to know.

In Fiji the British sugar cane plantation people brought them in to help control pests I think, not 100% sure on that. In Fiji I have seen a blue legged version too I think in Lautoka or Nadi some years back.

So the "Bombay Boys" are also in NZ without proper documentation! Oh, some native Fijians eat them too, roasted on a fire of coconut husks, and no, I didn't get to try it. Raven (Sydney NSW).

birdie
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Hey Raven, I would have to research that to be sure. But we have a very large migrant population (people that is)from Fiji and India that settled in NZ (post -war I think)and they were given land to engage in market gardening . In South Auckland where I am from we even have a place named Bombay and that has been the centre of the Indian Market gardening industry . So it would be reasonable to assume that maybe they were brought in as pets and escaped or maybe they thought they were a form of pest control? Brush Tail possums were imported from Australia and got away on the country too years ago, and since then they have been declared public enemy number one for decimating bush canopy, reducing bird numbers etc. Much like the cane toad here..... and the yellow Gorse that was brought in from Scotland I think as hedging, and the rabbits, goats and deer that have all gone feral.
I will see if I can find out anything about the mynah population there.

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Araminta
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Great photo Akos, I like his eye, he looks so serious! But what have you done with his second leg?? Where is it? Now, give it back!!

M-L

Raven
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Hello Birdie, you have sparked my interest in how those "Bombay Boys" got to NZ. Varied accounts here in Australia, for example: "A native of India, was originally introduced to Melbourne in 1860 and subsequently released in Sydney and parts of Queensland, including the canefields to combat insects but without success." Another bird book says: "Traditionally a bird of Tropical Asia and the sub continent, introduced into Victoria in 1863."

I wonder if they are also on the South Island of NZ too? Who and why were they introduced to New Zealand. OK on the possums, see many of them around here as "road kill" in the mornings, was told by a Vietnamese friend that they are pretty good eating too!! Raven (Sydney NSW).

birdie
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Just for interest sake here is a quote from the NZ birds website and the link to the whole page
Because of its habit of prospecting along the roadsides for bugs killed by cars, the common mynah is probably the one bird New Zealanders are most familiar with, at least in the northern parts of the North Island. No doubt mynahs have developed this habit in other parts of the world but here it makes them a target for many people in cars who do their best to run them down, usually without success, unlike the poor Pukeko. The mynah’s jaunty cocky nature just seems to infuriate a lot of people.

Common mynas have been exported from their land of origin, the Indian sub continent, to many other parts of the world by people who like their jaunty “attitude” and clear, striking calls. They are now firmly established and feral in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Solomons, New Caledonia, Fiji, Western Samoa, Cook Islands, Hawai’i and some other oceanic islands.
The Acclimatisation Societies and private individuals between 1870 and 1877 introduced several hundred birds into New Zealand, mainly to the South Island. Mynahs persisted in the South Island until about 1890. They were once numerous in the southern part of the North Island but now are mainly found in the northern North Island farmland, orchards, and suburban gardens. They rarely venture far into forests but can be common on the forest edge. The move north is generally attributed to their preference for a warmer climate, although W.R.H. Oliver quotes those who thought it due to the increase in the numbers of starlings.
http://nzbirds.com/birds/mynah.html

Raven...hope this satisfies your curiosity :')

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Raven
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Birdie, thanks for the news, will check out the NZ birds website tomorrow. Surprised to see they are also in New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands, cannot recall seeing them there though.

I used to be a freelance journalist with the Fiji Times, Islands Business Magazine, Pacific Magazine and Pacific Islands Monthly for many years and have set foot on the majority of Pacific Islands that have an airstrip and some that don't.

Seen Indian Mynahs in Fiji with blue legs too, not as common as the yellow legged though, probably a variant, or maybe just accidently stepped in a tin of blue paint.

Seen a large South Pacific Gull a few weeks back too at Newport, here in Sydney, don't often see the "South Pakkas" over this side of the Tasman, seen many of them in NZ though.

Raven

Raven
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Birdie, just spent some time on "nzbirds", thanks for the pointer, interesting to read about those "Bombay Boys" in NZ. They were released over there for insect control, similar to here, another failure we are paying dearly for.

They are listed on the Top 100 Invasive Pests too, not surprising. On Google I also found a host of websites with eradication programmes running for these birds with reports on appropriate trapping and disposal methods. One council in Australia even suggested a bounty price per head on them! Can remember when I was a lad there was a bounty price on fox scalps and rabbits back in the 60's and 70's.

The "Bombay Boys" are widely spread, even on islands in the Indian Ocean and as far north as Hawaii in the Pacific. Found another interesting and easy to read bird web page: www.mdavid.com.au/birds, has a good piece on Indian Myna birds too...Raven

birdie
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Well once again a post I did last night or this morning to here has gone astray.... it is happening with monotonous regularity LOL
i have changed to Google Chrome as a browser as it is much faster, but I don't think it has anything to do with that.
ANyway, I asked Raven where are you from originally, I am trying to work it out from your way of speaking and stuff. It is always interesting to put a profile to someone :')

Sunshine Coast Queensland

Raven
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Greetings Birdie, I am Australian born and bred and done a wide variety of jobs in my life and been to many overseas destinations. Grandparents were Scottish immigrants, one side from the remote Shetland Islands and the other from Ardrossan.

As I type this our nemisis is just outside the window glicking, glucking and whistling away, chatty little lads those "Bombay Boys"! Seen on one website referring to them as "Flying Cane Toads". Raven.

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