More on my mynas

Last year I made an album on the myna birds that visit me daily. They are still around and I am still amused by them.

I don't see much of them in the morning. They don't visit me so often at breakfast time, but they do come back around 9-10am and stand in the full glare of the sun. I've always assumed they are sunbathing, and today was interested to see this is correct. Having read the article, copied below, I agree that they have a glazed expression. They always sunbathe with their beak wide open, and they do look a bit moronic!!!

I don't have any photos of them sunbathing.

At other times one of them has appeared on my window ledge soaking wet, even though it hasn't been raining. It has obviously taken a bath somewhere.

Birds love soaking in the sun as much as humans do
Malaysia Sun
Wednesday 19th August, 2009
(ANI)



London, Aug 19 : Its not just humans who enjoy soaking up in the sun on the beach, for birds are fond of sunbathing too, according to the bird charity RSPB.

The charity revealed that they receive almost 100 calls during hot spells from people who are concerned with watching birds lying with their feathers and wings exposed to the sun.

However, they have said that such state of rest is not problematic, as the animals simply sunbath in this position.

Studies from the University of New Mexico have suggested that birds sun themselves to soothe their skin after heavy rain, which can cause them to suddenly lose their feathers.

The researchers believe that the sun helps straighten the birds' feathers, and helps the preen oil to spread through.

"People become concerned about these birds, because they seem to have a glazed expression in their eyes, because they are not focusing on anything, because they are entranced by the sun," the Telegraph quoted Gemma Rogers from the RSPB as saying.

She added: "They don't let themselves overheat at all. The feathers would protect them as well, so I don't think they need the factor 30."

However, the biggest concern, according to her, is that the predators will attack while the birds enjoy a peaceful moment in the sun.

"They are on the ground, they have their heads up, their legs wide open, but usually they fly away once a predator approaches. Their hearing is very acute as well, so even if they aren't focusing they will hear something coming," she said.

While blackbirds are the most commonly spotted sunbathers, pigeons and sparrows also enjoy the sun.

Rogers said that sparrows apparently enjoy going to the beach as much as humans.

"Sparrows often find a hot sandy area as well to have a sand or dust bath. That looks really strange. They bed themselves down and get in there and cover their feathers," she said.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Mynas

A pair of myna birds have adopted me. They live one floor above me, and have built a cosy nest underneath an airconditioning unit which is never used. They visit me, treating my place as their restaurant and dining room and lounge. It is my fault for starting to feed them and now they expect to be fed regularly. They also seem to like company and spend much of the afternoon and evening on my window ledge.

They are Common Mynas, as opposed to the invasive Javan mynas, which are darker in colour. They are incredibly vocal, and drive me nuts sometimes with their incessant calls and chirps and croaks. If one is on my ledge it will call for its mate until it gets a reply. Even if they are together on my sill, they will chatter away to each other.

listening

They get up before 7am, long before me (!) and I can hear their calls. They know I am not up as my windows are still closed. But they wait in the trees opposite my apartment and as soon as I appear and open the windows, they fly over and demand breakfast.

After breakfast they generally leave me for the morning, although sometimes they do sunbathe in the direct sun for a short while. During the day if I am home and I look out of the window, they fly over thinking they will get fed. So they don't go far during the day. Around mid afternoon they come back and spend a large part of the remainder of the day on my sill, dozing and resting and just watching the world go by. They have their own water bowl and often drink during the day - one drinks a lot compared to the other one.

preening

wet after a bath

I don't know which is the male/female. One is much smaller but has a deformed foot, maybe it lost its large toe in an accident.

This one is more placid and lets me get closer to it than the other. But the big one is more cheeky, it perches on my open window frame looking into the room and it has learnt that if I go into the kitchen it might mean food.

Sometimes it hops onto the back of a chair which is higher than the window frame, so it gets a better view of me in the kitchen. It even comes in and looks for food when I am not in the room - I've discovered this by leaving some bread on a chair and watching from another room and I've seen the bird come and take the bread.

Depsite their noise, they are real characters and I really enjoy their company. I am learning a lot about the lives of mynas and am in the process of writing an article on my feathery friends.

See
sunbathing mynas.

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Update Aug 2010

I'm still amused by my mynas and enjoy their company, except when they are too vocal. The big one is definitely the dominant one and is a bully. It won't let the other feed, even when it is not hungy itself. When I feed them I put the food in 2 separate piles and sometimes try and keep the big one away for as long as possible giving the smaller one a chance to eat. If there is only a small amount of food, the smaller bird will submissively let the bigger one eat.

I much prefer the smaller of the two, as it is less scared of me, and it does chat to me and answer me when I talk to it, whereas the bigger one ignores me. So I tend to try and feed the small one when its mate is away.

They seem to have a love hate relationship. Sometimes they are really lovey dovey, and other times the big one attacks the small one for no apparent reason.

In June they were acting strangely. The smaller one spent a lot of time alone on my ledge, chatting and calling. And I noticed him/her sleeping all night on top of the air con unit whilst the other one was on the nest behind the unit. And they seemed to go to bed earlier than usual, by about 30-45 minutes, and get up slightly later in the morning.

By end of June I was noticing more and more mynas around my condo. Many are the immigrant Javan mynas. Often there are fights when large numbers get involved, and I assume its the common v the Java, but I don't know. Sometimes my pair will chase off any invaders, especially if they land in the tree right opposite my windows.

So one day I was surprised when a pair of Javan birds perched on top of the open window whilst my pair were on the ledge. My pair did nothing except look, whereas I expected them to chase the new arrivals off. This happened again in Aug. Having seen my pair defend their territory on other occasions, I know want to work out why some invaders are tolerated whilst others aren't.

One morning in Aug I was up before the birds, and saw the small one sleeping on the window ledge one floor below the nest. Maybe they had a domestic dispute the previous evening and was banished from the bedroom. However they both came immediately to my window when they got up (without going over to the trees) and waited for breakfast, then spent ages preening themselves. This lengthy preening process is a morning and evening ritual. They seem clean in that sense, but on the other hand they often poo where they are standing, even right next to where their food is.

See 2nd album on the mynas.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission