Common Myna

Acridotheres tristis

Description:

Very common breeding resident of all zones up to 1700m. It lives in gardens, cultivations, and grass lands but not in dense forests, usually associated with cattle and buffalos and feed on ticks which infest on them and insects mainly grasshoppers which are disturbed by their feet while they graze. Hence the name Gon Kawadiya use by Sinhalese people for this bird. It appears to pair for life. But sometime flocks with considerable numbers are formed in out of breeding season. Also roost in night in thousands at a selected place usually few trees sometime in city centers or patches of shrub in marsh land. Breeding season start in March and last till August or September. A nest is a hole in a tree with mass of sticks, straws and feathers.