Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Common hill myna
The common hill myna (Gracula religiosa), sometimes spelled "mynah" and formerly simply known as the hill myna or myna bird, is a species of starling found in the hills of South and Southeast Asia. The Sri Lanka hill myna, a former subspecies of G. religiosa, is now generally accepted as a separate species G. ptilogenys. The Nias hill myna (G. robusta) are also widely accepted as specifically distinct, and many authors favor treating the southern hill myna (G. indica) from the Nilgiris and elsewhere in the Western Ghats of India as a separate species.
The common hill myna is a popular talking bird. Its specific name religiosa may allude to the practice of teaching mynas to repeat sacred prayers. The common hill myna is one of the most commonly spotted birds in Asian aviculture.
The common hill myna was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Gracula religiosa. The type location is the Indonesian island of Java. The genus name is from Latin graculus, an unknown bird sometimes identified as the western jackdaw. The specific epithet religiosa is from Latin religiosus meaning "sacred".
Nine subspecies are recognised:
The subspecies G. r. enganensis, the Enggano hill myna, has been considered a separate species but has similar morphology and vocalizations. The subspecies G. r. robusta was formerly sometimes considered as a separate species, the Nias hill myna. It is now treated as a subspecies of the common hill myna based on the results of a molecular genetic study by Dominic Ng and collaborators that found that robusta was embedded in clade that included the subspecies batuensis and miotera.
The southern hill myna (Gracula indica) and the Tenggara hill myna (Gracula venerata) were formerly classified as subspecies of the common hill myna.
This is a stocky jet-black myna, with bright orange-yellow patches of naked skin and fleshy wattles on the side of its head and nape. At about 29 cm length, it is somewhat larger than the common myna (Acridotheres tristis).
It is overall green-glossed black plumage, purple-tinged on the head and neck. Its large, white wing patches are obvious in flight, but mostly covered when the bird is sitting. The bill and strong legs are bright yellow, and there are yellow wattles on the nape and under the eye. These differ conspicuously in shape from the naked eye-patch of the common myna and bank myna (A. ginginianus), and more subtly vary between the different hill mynas from South Asia: in the common hill myna, they extend from the eye to the nape, where they join, while the Sri Lanka hill myna has a single wattle across the nape and extending a bit towards the eyes. In the southern hill myna, the wattles are separate and curve towards the top of the head. The Nias myna differs in details of the facial wattles, and size, particularly that of the bill.
Hub AI
Common hill myna AI simulator
(@Common hill myna_simulator)
Common hill myna
The common hill myna (Gracula religiosa), sometimes spelled "mynah" and formerly simply known as the hill myna or myna bird, is a species of starling found in the hills of South and Southeast Asia. The Sri Lanka hill myna, a former subspecies of G. religiosa, is now generally accepted as a separate species G. ptilogenys. The Nias hill myna (G. robusta) are also widely accepted as specifically distinct, and many authors favor treating the southern hill myna (G. indica) from the Nilgiris and elsewhere in the Western Ghats of India as a separate species.
The common hill myna is a popular talking bird. Its specific name religiosa may allude to the practice of teaching mynas to repeat sacred prayers. The common hill myna is one of the most commonly spotted birds in Asian aviculture.
The common hill myna was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Gracula religiosa. The type location is the Indonesian island of Java. The genus name is from Latin graculus, an unknown bird sometimes identified as the western jackdaw. The specific epithet religiosa is from Latin religiosus meaning "sacred".
Nine subspecies are recognised:
The subspecies G. r. enganensis, the Enggano hill myna, has been considered a separate species but has similar morphology and vocalizations. The subspecies G. r. robusta was formerly sometimes considered as a separate species, the Nias hill myna. It is now treated as a subspecies of the common hill myna based on the results of a molecular genetic study by Dominic Ng and collaborators that found that robusta was embedded in clade that included the subspecies batuensis and miotera.
The southern hill myna (Gracula indica) and the Tenggara hill myna (Gracula venerata) were formerly classified as subspecies of the common hill myna.
This is a stocky jet-black myna, with bright orange-yellow patches of naked skin and fleshy wattles on the side of its head and nape. At about 29 cm length, it is somewhat larger than the common myna (Acridotheres tristis).
It is overall green-glossed black plumage, purple-tinged on the head and neck. Its large, white wing patches are obvious in flight, but mostly covered when the bird is sitting. The bill and strong legs are bright yellow, and there are yellow wattles on the nape and under the eye. These differ conspicuously in shape from the naked eye-patch of the common myna and bank myna (A. ginginianus), and more subtly vary between the different hill mynas from South Asia: in the common hill myna, they extend from the eye to the nape, where they join, while the Sri Lanka hill myna has a single wattle across the nape and extending a bit towards the eyes. In the southern hill myna, the wattles are separate and curve towards the top of the head. The Nias myna differs in details of the facial wattles, and size, particularly that of the bill.