The common myna (scientific name: Acridotheres cristatellus), also known as the parrot, quail, robin, griffin, jay, Chinese crested myna, crested myna, sandalwood myna, and liaoge, was called Qinjiliao in ancient times. It is a bird of the starling family and the genus Acridotheres.
Mynas live in grasslands and mountain forests. They are good at singing and can imitate the calls of other birds. With training, they can even imitate human speech.
The common myna was originally distributed in southern China and the Indochina Peninsula, and is a typical Oriental bird. However, the illegal bird trade has led to the rapid spread of the common myna. Now there are introduced populations in the Philippines and Borneo, and the common myna is gradually becoming a common resident bird in northern China north of the Huai River.
Mynas are omnivorous. Studies on their diet have shown that plant and animal foods each make up about 50% of their diet. Mynas often eat various plant seeds, vegetable stems and leaves, snails, mole crickets, beetle insects, locusts, cutworms, etc.
The breeding season for this species is from April to July, with most eggs laid in May. Each nest contains 4-6 eggs, which are a bright blue color. In southern China, they breed twice a year. They often nest under the eaves of traditional Chinese buildings or in tree cavities, and sometimes also utilize abandoned nests of magpies or black-collared starlings.
This species is not listed as endangered, but it is threatened by the illegal bird trade and is hunted for medicinal purposes. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the whole myna bird, with its feathers and internal organs removed, has the function of lowering qi and stopping bleeding, and therefore it is used.
In Taiwan, the native myna population has drastically declined due to the breeding competition for habitats by introduced species such as the white-tailed myna and the domestic myna, as well as their hunting for pets. Since 2008, it has been listed as a rare and protected bird species. However, a 2015 master's thesis speculated that the reduction of tall grass habitats in the environment may be one of the important factors contributing to the recent decline in the native myna population, and that competition from introduced species may not be directly related.
