Common Myna
Scientific Name: Acridotheres tristis
Category: bird
Brief Description
A medium-sized brown bird with a black head, yellow bill, and yellow eye patch, often seen foraging on the ground in urban areas.
Characteristics
Medium-sized bird. Distinctive chocolate-brown body with a black head and neck. It has a bright yellow bill, legs, and a bare yellow patch of skin behind the eye. In flight, prominent white patches are visible on the wings, and the tail has white tips.
Habitat
Highly adaptable, typically found in open woodlands, agricultural areas, and heavily modified urban and suburban environments like parks, gardens, and city streets.
When to Find It
Present year-round in Cairns. Often seen in pairs or small family groups, and congregates in large communal roosts in the evening.
Conservation Status
Least Concern (globally). Invasive pest in Australia.
Ecological Role
An introduced species in Australia, often considered a pest as it competes aggressively with native birds and small mammals for nesting hollows.
Easily Confused With
Can be confused with the native Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala), which is mostly grey (not brown) with a black crown and lacks the extensive white wing patches in flight, though it also has yellow bare skin behind the eye.
Observation Tips
Easily observed foraging for insects and food scraps on the ground in parks, picnic areas, and along roadsides. Listen for their varied, raucous calls.
Interesting Facts
Native to southern Asia, the Common Myna was introduced to Australia in the 1860s to control insect pests in market gardens, but has since become a major ecological problem itself.