THE Indian myna is originally from India and SE Asia and was brought to Durban by sailors between 1888 and 1900 and sold on the presumption that they could be trained to talk.
They reached Gauteng by 1938 and the Kimberly diamond fields in 1964.
They have a jumble of squawks, whistles, croaks, creaks and whines, as well as a loud ‘radio, radio, radio’ call note and a harsh, swearing ‘kharr’. They are in pairs when breeding, and are otherwise found in small groups or flocks of up to 30 birds.
The bird roosts communally in large trees, in flocks of hundreds of thousands of birds, making a tremendous noise even long after nightfall.
It forages on lawns, playing fields, grasslands and streets, walking with a determined tread or bounding in long strides. It sings throughout the year, and pairs display to one another with bowing and their feathers raised. Neighbouring pairs fight furiously, often locking claws.
Their flight is fast and slightly undulating. Exceedingly wary, they may become tame in gardens.
The Indian myna feeds on insects, fruit, seeds, worms, nectar, table scraps, mice, small frogs and lizards. It breeds from September to January, laying up to six greenish blue eggs.
The nest is a bowl-shaped hollow on top of a large foundation of grass and in the eaves of buildings. They use roots, leaves, papers, string, snakeskin, bits of plastic to build their nests and line them with finer straw and paper strips.
Incubation lasts 18 days and nestlings remain for 22 days. The young accompany parents for several weeks after they leave the nest.
This myna has no known Zulu name and in Afrikaans, it is known as Indiese spreeu.
