It has been well written that Jungle Myna once roam Peninsular Malaysia in large numbers until the Javan Myna came and occupied some of its territories. In Klang Valley, there are probably only 2 percent of Jungle Myna left in the entire myna population here. Recently some Jungle Mynas paid a visit to the concrete jungle of my neighbourhood.
JUNGLE MYNA
One of the key features to determine a Jungle Myna is the dark patch at the base of its bill. Some photos even show that the bill base at times look bluish in color.
They are probably the descendants of the original / native population of Jungle Mynas in KL.
Most of them have bright yellow iris like the ones here.
There were just 2 - 3 of them. So far they were not seen fetching any nesting materials but from their numbers seen here it is safe to say that they might have breed somewhere nearby.
In a shade, their plumage may look more greyish.
Most of them are quite approachable - probably due to their constant contacts with humans.
Under more light, their mantle, scapulars and covert feathers are more brownish like the one above.
The colors of their belly are said to be paler / more whitish towards the vent.
In the avian world, we can't discount the existence of hybrids. Some of them probably may have some Javan Myna genetic code in them.
For comparison, here are some Jungle Myna photos taken from the wild.
The above photo was taken at a rice field in Penang recently.
The one below here was taken from Perlis.
It looks like the iris color of its wild cousins are less intense as compared with the ones in Klang Valley. The overall greyish plumage are uniformly spread throughout as well. That could meant that the ones in the concrete jungle of KL are not really 100 percent / pure breed.
JAVAN MYNA
Here is a typical looking Javan Myna
The head crest appears less bushier as compared to a Jungle Myna.
They too are used to human presence.
From the above photos, you can see that their iris are more whitish as compared to the Jungle Mynas. The more brownish color of their covert feathers and primaries on this Javan Myna probably mean that it could be a hybrid Javan Myna as well.
Note its underbelly colors which are more greyish through out.
How on earth did it manage to find a centipede on a road side?
Here is a Javan Myna photo taken from the field.
The above photo was taken at Malim Nawar, Perak recently.
There are a few anomalies though.
Not sure how to define the above Myna.
Note: finally experts have been able to identify the above myna as an imm Jungle Myna
Note its overall brownish colors.
The above photos are most likely the ones of a juvenile
THE AVIAN WORLD IS FULL OF SURPRISES. GO OUT THERE AND ENJOY THEM !
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