Introduction
The common myna or mynah (Acridotheres tristis) is also known as the Indian, Calcutta or house myna. It is not native to Australia but has established populations in eastern and south-eastern Australia, as well as other countries worldwide.
The common myna has significant potential to spread further in Australia as populations are expanding south in Queensland and westwards across western Victoria and New South Wales. It is important to prevent the common myna from spreading further in Australia.
Description
The common myna is 22-27cm in length (body and tail), with a brown body, dark brown to black head, yellow bill and bare yellow skin beneath and behind the eyes. Its dark wings have prominent white patches visible in flight, it has a black tail tipped with white and long yellow legs. Male, female and immature birds all look similar.
The common myna forages mostly on the ground and it has a distinctive walk or strut. The species is noisy and produces loud, raucous calls including scolding and chattering. Calls and chattering continue late into the night and begin before dawn.
Mistaken identity
There are some Australian native honeyeaters called miners that are not related to the common myna but look similar. Like the common myna, these native miners can sometimes forage on the ground in towns and cities. However, the native miners look different in that they have light grey to grey-brown bodies. They include:
- noisy miner (eastern Australia including Tasmania)
- yellow-throated miner (all states except Tasmania).
Distribution
The common myna is well-known throughout its natural range. It occurs in central Asia from Iran and Afghanistan through the Indian sub-continent and Sri Lanka to southern China and South-East Asia as far south as Singapore.
Introduced populations occur worldwide in; France, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, the Caucasus region, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the United States (Florida), South Africa, Madagascar, Sumatra, Brunei, and the islands of Hong Kong, Seychelles, Maldives, Laccadive, Vanuatu, Hawaii, Fiji and the North Island of New Zealand.
The common myna was deliberately introduced to eastern Australia in the 1860s with some birds being moved to new areas in an attempt to control insect pests. The species is now well-established in many urban and rural centres of southern and central Victoria, eastern New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and north-eastern and south-eastern Queensland. The common myna is increasing its range, spreading out from established populations. It is also occasionally found elsewhere in the country.
Habitat
The common myna prefers modified habitats including urban areas and open country near human settlement, roadside vegetation and agricultural land, indicating that it gains some benefit from associating with people. Occasionally it colonises areas away from people such as open forests and forest edges, flood plains, coastal areas and offshore islands, but usually in low numbers.
Reproduction, food and behaviour
The common myna usually nests in tree hollows which could otherwise be used by native animals. However, in the absence of suitable tree hollows it will use holes or cavities under roofs, in walls, light fittings, nest boxes and occasionally in cliff hollows and thick vegetation.
The common myna is an adaptable, omnivorous scavenger, feeding on fruits, grains, nectar, insects, young birds and eggs. It takes food from rubbish bins and is often seen sorting through leaf litter in parks and gardens, at picnic areas, train stations and on roads in search of food.
This myna gathers at dusk forming noisy, squabbling groups at communal roosts in dense foliage such as palms and pines. Sometimes several thousand birds may gather, though smaller roosts of 40–80 birds are more typical in Australia. It often roosts with common starlings and house sparrows.
The common myna remains in the same area throughout the year, but it can travel up to 12km between roost and feeding areas. It is often seen in pairs, parties or small flocks and spends a lot of time feeding on the ground. Individuals in the wild have been recorded living for seven years and possibly up to 12 years.
Damage by the common myna
The species is listed by the IUCN (World Conservation Union) as one of 100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species alongside common starlings, red foxes and cane toads. It is a moderate pest of agriculture causing damage to orchard fruits such as fig, apple, pear, strawberry, guava, mango and grape. It also damages standing cereal crops including maize, wheat and rice.
In several countries it is considered an environmental pest and is reported to eat eggs and young birds and mammals including endangered species. The common myna aggressively competes for nest hollows and food, adversely affecting the breeding success of other birds and hollow-nesting mammals. It has been observed attacking terns on islands and taking the eggs of other seabirds, possibly interfering with those birds’ breeding and general behaviour. The common myna is also known to spread avian malaria to other birds.
The species is a major disperser of seeds from the pest plant lantana and is suspected of spreading other environmental weed seeds such as olive.
It has the potential to transmit diseases to humans and can carry blood-borne parasites like plasmodium that causes malaria, as well as other parasites such as mites, roundworm and threadworm. Mites from common myna nests built in urban dwellings can invade homes and cause dermatitis and allergies in susceptible people.
In Australia programs involving community groups and government authorities have been developed to reduce common myna populations or damage. These programs have often been carried out in response to public concerns about the negative effects of the common myna on native birds. A variety of lethal and non-lethal methods have been used including; shooting and scaring with firearms, baiting, trapping, chemical and sound repellents, habitat and nest box modification.
Potential to be a pest in Australia
A scientific risk assessment conducted by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development in Western Australia and endorsed by the national Invasive Plants and Animals Committee indicates that the common myna poses an extreme threat (the highest of four categories) to Australia. Part of the assessment showed that the climates of the common myna’s overseas range and Australia are very similar.
It is therefore important to prevent birds from establishing in new areas. New populations would pose risks to hollow-nesting mammals and birds as well as native corvids (crows and ravens), magpies, pigeons and doves. Many agricultural crops could be at risk from damage by the common myna and it could also add to the nuisance already caused in urban areas by other birds.
Birds in the wild
The common myna is prohibited in South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. Movement of the common myna to other areas can occur via shipping and road transport and/or possibly intentional release, and as a result it has been found most recently in Adelaide, South Australia; Launceston and Devonport, Tasmania; and Perth, Western Australia.
Risk management
To help prevent the common myna from establishing new populations and spreading in Australia it is essential to immediately report sightings of it in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. In other states where it already occurs it should be reported if seen in new areas of the state. Reports should be made to the nearest relevant government department or wildlife authority.
Declared pest category
The Western Australian Organism List (WAOL) contains information on the area(s) in which this pest is declared and the control and keeping categories to which it has been assigned in Western Australia. Use the links on this page to reach common myna in WAOL.