Hill mynah

Common hill mynas are native to South and Southeast Asia. The common hill myna is a striking black bird with a bright-orange bill and bright-yellow wattles, or folds of bare skin, across the back of its neck. Common hill mynas are famous for their ability to imitate sounds, including the human voice. Young birds learn a wide variety of calls while they are in the nest, and adults may make as many as 13 different sounds.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Sturnidae

Genus: Gracula

Species: Religiosa

Common hill mynas are large, black birds which live in the damp, forested foothills of southeast Asia up to elevations of 6,500 feet (2,000 meters). In general, they find trees on the edge of a forest clearing or a farmer's field. They pass most of the hours of their days in the trees, rarely descending to the ground or to low-growing fruit bushes. Often, five to 10 birds gather in social groups to call and chatter with each other. When they are not communicating and perching with other birds, they may be eating. Common hill mynas are omnivores, meaning they eat plants and meat. Common hill mynas eat mostly fruit and berries, but they also catch insects in flight, drink the nectar of flowers, and catch small lizards and other reptiles. One source of nectar is the flowers of the silk cotton tree. As a flock of up to 100 birds sip the flowers' nectar, they also get pollen on their heads and throats and then pollinate the flowers as they fly from tree to tree. In the evening, large, extremely noisy flocks form in the trees, filling the forest with their chattering for periods of up to an hour. As night falls, the birds separate into small groups or pairs and fly to their roosts on branches or in tree holes to sleep until morning.

Common hill mynas have solid, jet-black or metallic-blue plumage, or feathering, over their bodies, which are 11 to 15 inches (28 to 38 centimeters) long and weigh between five and 9 1/2 ounces (142 and 269 2/3 grams). Standing out brightly on the birds' dark necks are the bold, yellow wattles, or fleshy folds of bare skin that run in a line across the backs of the necks from beneath each eye. Their tails are three to four inches (seven to 10 centimeters) long. When the common hill mynas spread their wings, they measure 1 1/2 to two feet (45 to 60 centimeters) from tip to tip. White patches become visible when the birds are in flight. The birds' bright colored orange or red bills often have yellow tips. They are long, straight, and quite thick. Long, yellow toes and claws aid the birds in grasping branches.

Once a male and female are old enough to mate and have formed a bond with each other, they mate for life. Mating season differs with location but is generally between April and July. Each pair claims a territory near its nest within the colony in which they breed. Typically, nests are 30 to 50 feet (10 to 15 meters) above the ground and in tree holes, perhaps an abandoned woodpecker hole. One tree may contain several holes and nesting pairs of birds. Inside a hole, the pair builds a nest of twigs, grass, and feathers, into which the female lays two or three eggs. After the two-week incubation period, the young hatch from their bright blue eggs, which have reddish-brown blotches. Most other hole-nesting birds lay white eggs, and so the common hill mynas' eggs are rare. During the next four weeks, both parents protect and feed their young, as well as teach them a wide variety of calls, whistles, wails, and screeches. After four weeks of protection and feeding by both parents the young fledge, are ready to fly, for the first time.

The common hill myna is famous for its wide variety of calls and sounds. Adults teach their young the calls, but the young have slightly different calls from their parents and near neighbors. The male and female in a pair do not often have the same calls. Different calls within a family may help birds in a family identify each other so they do not mate with each other. Adult common hill mynas may have as many as 13 different sounds. The birds also have great skill in mimicking, or imitating, other sounds, including the human voice. This talent is not heard in the wild, but only when the birds are in captivity.

Although their large flocks protect common hill mynas, they are at risk for predation from crows, mongooses, and cats. Other small mammals may try to eat common hill myna eggs. Common hill mynas may live up to 25 years. They are not a threatened species.

Bibliography

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “Common Hill Myna - Gracula Religiosa.” Birds of the World, 25 Oct. 2022, birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/hilmyn/cur/introduction. Accessed 6 Apr. 2024.

Shyamal, L. “Common Hill Myna - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio.” Animalia, 2024, animalia.bio/common-hill-myna. Accessed 6 Apr. 2024.