Hill Myna

Maina de Colinas

Gracula religiosa

A glossy black bird with yellow bare skin on the neck and cheek. It has an orange bill and yellow legs. A white wing patch is striking in flight. Length: 28-30 cm. Makes a wide variety of chips, squeaks and whistles. Nests in tree cavities. Native to southern Asia from India to the Philippines. A popular cage bird because of its ability to imitate the human voice. The Myna has bred in the wild in Puerto Rico, but individuals can survive for a long time. It is not clear if the wild population will be self-sustaining over the long run, especially since there is strong financial incentive to capture wild birds for the pet trade. There are no recent sightings on Puerto RicoÆs north and east coasts where it had been breeding.

Feare, C. and A. Craig. 1999. Starlings and Mynas. Princeton.

Kannan, R. and D. A. James. 2001. Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis). No. 583 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A. and C. B. Kepler. 1992. Earliest records of the recently introduced avifauna of Puerto Rico. Ornitología Caribeña 3:20-29.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Hill Myna, Spanish text

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