Common Myna

The common or Indian myna is a brown starling with a black hood, a bare yellow patch behind the eye and a bright yellow bill and legs. It has rounded wings and a square-tipped tail, and in flight shows a white patch on the outer primaries, white wing linings and a white tail tip. The sexes look alike, and birds are usually seen in pairs. Birds in the dry north-west are paler than those further south. Its varied calls include croaks, squawks, chirps, clicks, whistles and growls, often given with fluffed feathers and bobbing head (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is an omnivorous bird of open woodland with a strong territorial instinct, and has adapted extremely well to towns and cities. It is popular as a cage bird for its singing and mimicry. Its range has expanded so fast through introductions that it is listed among the world's worst invasive species, and it is regarded as a major pest in Australia. Its species name means sad or gloomy. In India it is resident across a very large range; SoIB 2023 finds its current trend stable and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).