Hill Myna

Overview

Hill Myna: Large, stocky, glossy black starling with bright orange bill, unique fleshy lobes of bright yellow skin behind and below eyes, and prominent white wing patch. Yellow legs and feet. Extremely vocal, mimics other birds. It is a popular cage bird, renowned for its ability to imitate speech.

Range and Habitat

Hill Myna: In North America found in urban gardens and parks around Miami, Florida, and in some large cities in southern California and Hawaii.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Hill Myna is a popular cage bird. Demand in the West outstrips breeding capacity so they are seldom found in pet stores. It is becoming rare in regions of Northeastern India due to capture for the illegal pet trade.
In the Garo Hills area of Assam, the locals induce the birds to breed in artificial nests put up in accessible positions at the edge of a small village.
The villagers are able to extract the young at the proper time for easy hand-rearing, making Hill Myna farming a profitable minor cottage industry
A group of mynas are collectively known as a "local" and a "statutory" of mynas.

The Hill Myna has a large range, estimated globally at 3,880,000 square kilometers. Native to Asia, this bird prefers subtropical and tropical forest ecosystems and has also been known to live on plantations. The global population of this bird is has not been quantified but does not appear to show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Hill Myna is Least Concern.