Common hill myna
Gracula religiosa
— Where the name comes from
Gracula comes from the Latin graculus, the jackdaw. Religiosa means “sacred, religious”, an adjective chosen by Linnaeus for reasons that are not documented. The Italian name, “Indian blackbird”, links it to the blackbird for its black plumage, but it is a starling; in English it is the hill myna, and myna comes from Hindi.
— Facts
- Group
- Birds · Aves
- Order
- Passerines
- Habitat
- Edges of humid forest, plantations, clearings with tall trees
- Range
- India, South-East Asia and Indonesia
- Size
- 27–31 cm, 160–260 g
- Diet
- Fruit, nectar, insects
- Lifespan
- Up to 25 years in captivity
— Characteristics
- 01
It is glossy black with bare yellow wattles on the nape and sides of the head.
- 02
It has a stout orange bill.
- 03
In the wild it has a very rich repertoire of whistles and calls.
— What sets it apart
It is perhaps the best imitator of the human voice of all birds, more faithful than many parrots in reproducing the timbre of the speaker, to the point of fooling listeners. Curiously, in the wild it does not seem to imitate other species: its skill shows itself mainly in contact with people. That very talent has made it one of the most trapped birds for the pet trade, and in several regions of Asia wild populations have collapsed.
