Species Fact Profile: Bali Mynah (Leucospar rothschildi)

Bali Mynah (Rothschild’s Mynah, Bali Starling)

Leucopsar rothschildi (Stresemann, 1912)

Range:  Northwest Bali (Indonesia)

Habitat: Monsoon Forest, Acacia Savannah
Diet: Insects, Worms, Fruits, Seeds
Social Grouping: Flocks up to 40
Reproduction: Breed Oct-Nov, nest in tree cavities (often made by woodpeckers), 2-3 eggs incubated by female for 14 days, both parents provide food after hatching, chicks fledge at 3 weeks, sexually mature at 2-3 years old
Lifespan: 5 Years (Wild), 15 Years (Captivity)
Conservation Status: IUCN Critically Endangered, CITES Appendix I

•  Length 25 centimeters, weight 85-90 grams; plumage is almost entirely white, with black wing- and tail-tips, bare blue skin around eye,a  long drooping crest (longer in males than females), yellow bill, and grey-blue legs
• Extremely arboreal for a starling, it only comes to the ground to drink (a form of predator avoidance)
•  Fresh water is scarce throughout parts of range, so mynahs are believed to obtain much of their moisture from the juices of ripe fruits
• The mynah is Bali’s only endemic vertebrate, and serves as the fauna symbol for island; it is featured on Indonesian 200 rupiah coin
• Possibly extinct in the wild, predominately due to illegal capture for pet trade, as well as habitat loss and competition with the introduced black-winged starling