The Common Myna, is it as bad as they say?
The Indian or Common Myna Acridotheres tristis is native to southern Asia and was introduced to Australia in 1862 with birds being released in Melbourne to control the insects in the market gardens. Bird were later released in other areas along the east coast and have continued to spread ever since.
The common myna was voted as the most hated pest in Australia, in the ABC wild watch quest for pests in 2005 and is blamed for the reduction in the numbers of native birds that once visited people's backyards because of competition for food; competition for cavity-nesting sites; and competition for territories. I found a great paper that looked at the impacted that the common myna had on the native birds in Commercial, Residential and Bush land areas within Sydney. The study found that common myna were not as aggressive as our native wattle birds and noisy minor and that they seem happy to feed alongside other birds. This study believes that the common myna has been branded as aggressive because of people misidentifying the native Noisy Minor as Common Mynas. |
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It also found that in the study area the Common myna was most common in Commercial areas followed by Residential areas with only a few recorded in bush land. The study concluded that the common myna preferred to live in areas with a high degree of habitat modification and this is backed up by observations of the population in my area of Victoria.
When I visit the local swamp I rarely see any introduced species although the starling do roost in the swamp at night but I’ve never seen common mynas there. If I want to see small native birds, then there are a few locations on the edge of town that I can visit or along the river where there is still dense native vegetation.
When I visit the local swamp I rarely see any introduced species although the starling do roost in the swamp at night but I’ve never seen common mynas there. If I want to see small native birds, then there are a few locations on the edge of town that I can visit or along the river where there is still dense native vegetation.
I did have a pair of mynas that started to build a nest in the box on the back wall of the shed at work and they were regularly seen feeding alongside the native Masked Lapwing, Australian Magpies, Mudlarks, Wood Ducks and the introduced Common Starling and Black birds. Other birds that I’ve seen in the street include Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Gang Gang Cockatoo, Galahs, Eastern Rosellas, Rainbow and Masked Lorikeets, Black Ducks, Ibis, Welcome Swallows, Yellow Rumped Thornbills, European Goldfinches, Spotted Doves and Rock Doves which are also known as Feral Pigeons.
With habitat modification we also run the risk of increasing some natives species to the level of pest and this has happen with the noisy minor in parts of Australia. In Dr. Kate Grarock thesis on the impact of the common myna in Canberra it showed that over the 29 years of records that some bird increased and other decreased after the introduction of the common myna. My interpretation of this was different to Dr. Grarock’s as I saw an increase in the birds that do well around human like the Australian Magpies and Ravens but with an increase in these predatory birds I would expect to see a reduction in small bird numbers. The reduction in the number of Kookaburras might be linked to a reduction in suitable nesting site and feeding areas.
From all the research that I’ve read on the Common Myna I have not found any clear evidence that they are causing our native species to disappear and that we need to look at is our own habits of habitat modification. We need to start planting local natives plants in our gardens and saving the native vegetation that we still have.
We need to incorporate nature into our planning of future developments instead of just whipping out nature and replacing it with large homes and manicured lawns just to impress our friends. Australia also has other invasive species like the Fox, Cane Toad and Cat that are doing more damage to our wildlife then what the Common Myna can do.
I’m fine with the tapping of the Common Myna but we need a plan that fixes the underlying issues and makes our towns and cities inviting for our native birds.
By Dale Cray
With habitat modification we also run the risk of increasing some natives species to the level of pest and this has happen with the noisy minor in parts of Australia. In Dr. Kate Grarock thesis on the impact of the common myna in Canberra it showed that over the 29 years of records that some bird increased and other decreased after the introduction of the common myna. My interpretation of this was different to Dr. Grarock’s as I saw an increase in the birds that do well around human like the Australian Magpies and Ravens but with an increase in these predatory birds I would expect to see a reduction in small bird numbers. The reduction in the number of Kookaburras might be linked to a reduction in suitable nesting site and feeding areas.
From all the research that I’ve read on the Common Myna I have not found any clear evidence that they are causing our native species to disappear and that we need to look at is our own habits of habitat modification. We need to start planting local natives plants in our gardens and saving the native vegetation that we still have.
We need to incorporate nature into our planning of future developments instead of just whipping out nature and replacing it with large homes and manicured lawns just to impress our friends. Australia also has other invasive species like the Fox, Cane Toad and Cat that are doing more damage to our wildlife then what the Common Myna can do.
I’m fine with the tapping of the Common Myna but we need a plan that fixes the underlying issues and makes our towns and cities inviting for our native birds.
By Dale Cray
P.S. I started to write this article with the view that the Common Myna was displacing our native birds and need to be eradicated but after reading all the scientific data that I could find I change my beliefs. It just goes to show that you should not trust what you have been told and to do your own research.