July Bird News from VogelPark - Walsrode Birdpark

The Starlings and Mynas (Sturnidae) is a very interesting and modern Family of Passerines with a series of adaptations that have enabled some of the species to be among the most successful bird species in the world. Rare in Passerines, most Starlings walk instead of hopping and as a rather unique feature that they share only with Corvids and some Icterids is the fact that they often use their bill to pry open any crevices by inserting their closed bill and then open the mandibles. Many Starling species are adapted to the open landscape particularly grasslands where the use this method to search in the ground for insects and earth-worms.

The European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and the Common myna (Acridotheres tristis) are particularly well known for their ability to settle in the vicinity of man and their Live-stock. They benefit from the human activities and therefore have been able to spread their distribution and prosper as a species. As invasive species particularly the Common myna and the European starling are causing devastation to native bird species which have problems with the competition for food and nesting sites. The Common myna are very frequently seen around livestock in pursuit of insects and will happily nest around human settlements.    

Other species are strongly adapted to a forested habitat and some are restricted to remote and undisturbed forests. Among the best known forest species are the Hill-myna (Gracula religiosa) revered for their ability to imitate human speech they still belong to the more primitive species in the family of Starlings. Most of the forest dwelling species are so dependent on their dwindling habitat that they are becoming increasingly scarce in numbers and several may become endangered faster than we would like to think, a well known example of a severely threatened starling species is the Bali-myna (Leucopsar rothschildi).

The classic Glossy Starlings have their distribution in Africa this is a highly diverse group of birds with the most incredible metallic colours that can be imagined. The gloss effect is not caused by pigmentation but be feather structures that reflect the sunlight in certain colours. The Superb glossy starling (Spreo superbus) from East Africa is a well known savannah bird often seen around villages or at tourist sites. They are also well known in aviculture and breed quite readily if a compatible pair is found. Like most starlings the utilize crevices or nest boxes but this species is also perfectly capable of building a domed nest of twigs with a lining of grass and mammal hairs freely suspended in a tree or bush. The Golden-breasted glossy starling (Cosmopsarus regius) are said to be among the most beautiful birds although previously frequently imported they seem more delicate in captivity. They origin from very dry regions and best results are achieved with these birds when they are kept under warm and dry conditions, damp lushly planted tropical have proven to be poor holding conditions for this species.   

The Rüppel’s long-tailed glossy starlings (Lamprotornis purpuropterus) not only have a long name but also boost with extraordinary long and broad wings as well as elongated tail. These birds make fabulous flight displays in sunny weather flapping slowly and with a fanned tail.

Unusual for glossy starlings and indeed most starlings the Amethyst starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster) shows a strong sexual dimorphism where the male are glossy purple above and white below where as the females are drab grey and white streaked. Juvenile males may maintain “female-plumage” for several years when kept with a fully plumed dominant male and can easily be mistaken for females.     

The Starlings are lively and attractive aviary birds and therefore well represented in the Walsrode Birdpark and more than 21 species can be seen in the park. Among the more important are the Bali-mynah breeding which is now visible for the visitors, by placing the breeding facilities on exhibit rather than off exhibit we achieve an opportunity to show the important work of breeding and managing an endangered species however also through the concept of positive stress we believe that the birds do benefit from the exposure to the public. This is not true for all species but Bali-myna’s which are kept in isolated off-exhibit quarters tend to suffer from boredom related problems such as feather plucking or even mutilation of their young. For many other bird species it is more likely to be the other way around. 
The Walsrode birdpark Foundation supports a parallel in-situ project for the Black-winged Starling (Sturnus melanopterus) in Indonesia this species has become endangered due to similar factors as the Bali-myna.

The Hill-myna’s are surely among the most popular birds in the park often keeping children and adults alike spellbound with their linguistic skills. Several of the primitive myna species from Asia have very unique feather structures on their heads. These features have been poorly studied but evolutionary very interesting. The species of the genus Acridotheres have tufts on the forehead to a varying degree from rudimentary in the Common myna to the extreme in the Crested myna (Acridotheres cristatellus) both also have elongated neck feathers that curl backwards like a perfect “James Dean haircut”. The Golden-crested myna (Ampeliceps coronatus) moves one step further with the fantastic “haircuts” with its shiny golden crown this species that is otherwise restricted to the treetops of South-east Asia is ready for Hollywood. The Sulawesi king starling (Basiliornis celebensis) is also one of the extremes when it comes to unusual head feathering as if they want to provoke someone they posses a compressed feather comb from the nostrils to the nape. The Yellow-faced myna (Mino dumontii) has large patches of partially naked skin on each side of the head, stubby and modified feathers are present on the patches as well as on their nape a feature occasionally thought to be moult related.

Most of the tree-dwelling mynas are strongly frugivores and seek fruiting trees in the forest where often several birds of different congregate to forage. They will not turn any insects or other small creatures that cross their path down as a side snack but rarely hunt actively for these unless they are feeding their young that need additionally protein. In captivity they should be fed an almost exclusive fruit diet in order to keep them healthy. They are prone to suffer from obesity and especially iron storage disease if fed wrongly. Ironically the closely related Common - and Crested mynas which are adapted to a life foraging for insects and other invertebrates on the ground also depend on an animal protein based diet in captivity and thereby show none of the problems found in Hill-mynas and their allies.