Myna Bird Invasion - Photographs of Various Species and Video of White Myna and of Talking Myna

White Bali Myna

(Internet Photograph)

This white Bali Myna is so beautiful and it is my favorite species of Myna birds.  I have never seen one in "real life", however,   I stumbled across it by accident on the internet.  All myna (or mynah) birds belong to the starling family, particularly all those called Myna are in the Indian subcontinent.

Below is a video of this endangered bird.

Below are some of my own photographs that I took of the common myna, or Indian myna, here on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.  

The common myna with the extra white plumage got my curiosity up so I tried to find information about it on the internet, to no avail.   I guess it is a rare case of too much white on this species.   At any rate, that is how I discovered the white Bali myna on the web.  In 2000 the IUCN Species Survival Commission declared the common myna one of the world's most invasive species.   I am not really fond of these birds; they are noisy and have an ugly screech.   There was one myna I enjoyed, though, not long after I moved to Hawaii.   I first lived in Makiki suburb, which was home to a myna that used to give frequent wolf whistles.   I heard it often from where I lived, and it was great to get a wolf whistle from him when I walked down the street !  <Sigh !  Big grin.>  I attended a church not too far from my apartment, and one Sunday that whistling myna was interrupting our Sunday School class so much that the preacher's wife  also interrupted the study and said something to the effect of "Who taught that bird to whistle?"  (It has been several years since that incident so I cannot remember all of her exact words.)   The windows were open in our class so we got a good earful.  :-)

Below is a video of a talking myna bird.  He rather charms me into liking him.

In Hawaii the common or Indian myna is everywhere to be found on all of the islands.  It was first introduced from India in 1865 to control the insect population.   It is about 9 inches and both the male and female look pretty much alike.   When it flies you really notice the white wing patches.

They are very social birds and travel in pairs.   They gather in large groups and roost in trees.   They breed from February to August and they raise one to three broods a year.   They lay two to five eggs in each brood.   Incubation time is over 13 days and the babies fledge  sometime  later between 29 to 35 days.

Below are some photographs from the Internet of other species of Mynas.

White-necked Myna

Brahminy Myna

Sri Lanka Hill Myna

Miracle Baby - Red Vented Bulbul

Baby Red Vented Bulbul

Photograph by Carol Reynolds

Good news !  If you read the previous post (scroll down)  on Monday, June 15, 2015, you will see that some Red vented bulbul adults had built a nest on a palm branch that was dying.  Right after I made that post, on Wednesday of that same week the palm branch fell off the tree.   I felt so bad for the birds.   I had prayed for a miracle to happen concerning the eggs/babies, like for the palm branch to miraculously not fall.    I could not find the branch that fell and assumed it had fallen on a rooftop across from my paitio, which was directly below the dying branch.     

The parent bulbuls began a flurry of activity for the next few days and I assumed they were building a new nest to the left of my lanai (patio) which was out of my sight.   However, they seemed to be flying low and all their activity was more towards the ground.    On the following Monday I was surprised to see a baby bulbul in my ficus tree on my lanai. !!  I was so happy.   My  prayer for a miracle had been answered.   Perhaps the nest had blown to the ground in a soft spot of some vegetation.   There was no sign of any other babies.   

The above photo was taken of my lanai from my living room window.   I stayed off the lanai pretty much to give the birds privacy while they were occupying the area.   My ficus tree in the background was where the baby bulbul first made its appearance and I watched the parents flit back and forth to feed the youngster.   

Adult Red Vented Bulbul

This photo gives you a better idea of the bulbul's coloring, etc,.  The previous photos of the adult bulbuls were taken looking towards the bright sky while the birds were in the palm tree and therefore did not give a good light to see details of the birds.     They were not too shy when I sat on the lanai and took their portraits.   

I am so glad that at least one baby bulbul survived.   Below is another photograph I took today.  The baby has a much stronger and louder chirp now than it did on this past Monday.   Also, it can fly better and made it into the higher palm branches today.

Baby red vented Bulbul in palm tree

I am very glad I was wrong and that the adult birds were not building a new nest after all like I had previously presumed. .  Life goes on.   I love happy endings !!

Red Vented Bulbul - Drama on Oahu, Hawaii

Red Vented Bulbul in Palm Tree

Photograph by Carol Reynolds

Red Vented Bulbuls (pycnonotas cafer) are quite common on the island of Oahu.  They are considered a harmful invasive species as they wreck havoc on gardens and fruits and causes over $300,000 damage annually to orchids here.    There are several orchid growers on this island.   Red vented Bulbuls eat other things besides flowers and flower buds; they also eat fruit and vegetables as well as insects and even small lizards.   I took the photograph above from off my patio (they are called lanai here in Hawaii).   There is a big drama going on above in the palm trees just beyond my lanai.   See photo below.

Anyone familiar with palm trees knows that when they have orange and/or brown "leaves" that that means it is dying and will soon fall off the tree.   Can you see the bulbul in this tree?  A pair has built a nest on this dying palm leaf.   It was green when they began the nest.    Look below.

See the nest ?   At this point I believe there are only eggs in the nest, because the male and female take turns sitting on it and there is no constant back and forth like there would  be if the eggs had hatched and they were feeding babies.   

I wish I could do something to help.   I called the number for a bird/animal rescue place, and the woman said nature would just have to take its course,   These were probably young parents and they will have to learn the hard way to build their nest somewhere else.   Nesting season lasts a long time and soon they will have a new nest and new eggs. 

The photograph directly above gives you a good look at the Red Vented Bulbul's nice crest.

I took all the above photos this morning while on my lanai.   Later in this post is a video by someone else from You Tube, showing baby bulbuls being fed by the parents.  I wanted to give you a little more information about this aggressive bird first.     They are just a tad over 8 inches in size, and so far are found only on Oahu and the big island of Hawaii.  They are an alien introduced species to Hawaii and were originally from tropical southern Asia, as in India and Burma and China and I believe Pakistan as well.   The male and female bulbul look alike.   

On Oahu there is also found the Red Whiskered Bulbul, which are a bit smaller and, in my opinion, a lot prettier as they are lighter in color.   

I hope, after the nest falls , that "my" bulbuls stay near my area.   I enjoy their beautiful songs and their comings and goings.   They chase smaller finches and other birds away from what they consider their territory.    

Below is a video of bulbuls,     Enjoy !

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My Website

Hand Feeding Hummingbirds and Videos Of Hummingbirds

Hummingbird With Bluebonnets

9" x 12" oil on canvas

Black-Chinned Hummingbird with Indian Paintbrush

9" x 12" oil on canvas

Both oil paintings above of  hummingbirds and Texas wildflowers were painted when I lived in Texas several years ago and are no longer available for purchase.   Living in Hawaii, I miss the little hummingbirds as there are none to be found here.   They are found in South America and North America as they migrate.   I used to have hummingbird feeders in Texas and enjoyed watching these little feisty birds .   I never tried to hand feed them as in one of the videos below.    Check it out :

None of these 3 videos are of my own making, as you will notice if you view them.

Below is an interesting video showing 2 baby Allen's hummingbirds from birth to leaving the nest .

Below is a video of an Anna's hummingbird building a nest.   It might get boring for some people, but I found it fascinating to watch.

Hope you enjoyed these interesting videos.   A wonderful website for bird lovers is allaboutbirds.org

Be sure to check out the links there.   

I will be posting more about Hawaiian birds in the future, as well as other subjects.   The fascination of birds for me began when I was a child, and has intensified as I age.   

Feel free to comment as to what subjects you would be interested in my posting as time goes by. 

  

Thank you for visiting !

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Hawaiian Red Jungle Fowl

This is a handsome fellow - Hawaiian Red Jungle Fowl - I photographed on the island of Kauai.   Most of the true red jungle fowl are found on Kauai, primarily at Koke'e State Park and Alaka'i Swamp.  They are shy birds of dense rain forests.    They were brought to Hawaii by the first Polynesians and are called "Moa" in Hawaiian.   They are not as widespread now, and many have bred with other chickens so a true red jungle fowl is hard to find.   There are some feral jungle fowl on Oahu and the other main islands.   

Sometimes it seems like there are more wild roosters and chickens on the islands than there are people !   You see them almost everywhere, and some are so use to humans that they are almost tame.   Below is a painting of mine of a not so wild rooster that I photographed  right on the beach at Hanauma Bay on Oahu.  One of his female companions thoughtfully laid an egg right in front of me while I took photos !  I am not inclined to eat their eggs, however, and they say the wild chickens themselves are pretty tough to eat cooked.   

"Hanauma Bay Resident"

12" x 16" Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

Available painting

I have only painted one red jungle fowl, and that was a miniature and can be found at my other blog by going here  .   I intend to paint more jungle fowl and other roosters in the future.

Hawaiian Gallinule At Hamakua Marsh, Oahu

Hawaiian Gallinule

The Hawaiian Gallinule is a subspecies of the common moorhen.   It is endangered and is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands....now limited to Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai.  The population today is probably only in the hundreds.   This photograph and the ones below were all taken at Hamakua Marsh in Kailua, Oahu.  

The one photo gives a good glimpse of their rather large feet.  I had a big surprise when I took the following two photographs of the same bird at the marsh .

This is not a juvenile Hawaiian Gallinule, but just a mostly white adult which must be rather rare.  I contacted the Hawaii Audubon Society and sent them these two photographs and they informed me that it was an adult and that another one had been seen at Kahuku on Oahu.  Rather pretty bird, I think.  

This is a view of Hamakua Marsh.  It was a grey overcast day when I took this photograph; the color there can be quite beautiful at times.

"Making Ripples"

24" x 24" Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

This is an available painting of mine of the Hawaiian Gallinule at Hamakua Marsh. 

There will be more posts about Hawaii's endemic birds (and others as well) very soon.  I enjoy all wildlife, but birds are very special to me for some reason.   

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

White-Rumped Shama Thrush

The photos above are of male White-Rumped Shama Thrush.   They are quite beautiful and have a wonderful rich song.   They were first introduced from Malaysia to the Island of Kauai in 1931 and on Oahu in 1940.  It is rather a large bird....9 to 11 inches.   

The above photo is a female Shama Thrush that has bitten off more than she can chew.... a creepy centipede.   Notice that the female is duller in color than the male and has a bit smaller tail.   Below are a couple of my photos of baby Shamas.

As of this date, I have only painted one Shama Thrush.   Below is the reference photo and the painting.

Shama Thrush

12" x 12" Acrylic on panel

One of the reference photos for the acrylic painting above.

All of the shown photographs were taken at two different botanical gardens on Oahu, but occasionally I have seen Shama Thrush elsewhere on the island.  They are not backyard birds and tend to stay primarily in forests.   One time I saw a handsome male Shama at a well landscaped restaurant in the suburbs of Honolulu.   

These photos were taken when my camera was fairly new and I was just learning how to use it.  But the photos are at least clear enough to give you a good idea of the coloring, etc., of this much loved bird.