The brahminy starling or brahminy myna (''Sturnia pagodarum)'' is a member of the

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...

family of birds. It is usually seen in pairs or small flocks in open habitats on the plains of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Taxonomy

The brahminy starling was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

in 1789 by the German naturalist

Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German natural history, naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp F ...

in his revised and expanded edition of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

's ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...

''. He placed it with the thrushes in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Turdus ''Turdus'' is a genus of medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for 'thrush'. Most of the species are called thrushes; the term thrush is also used for man ...

'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Turdus pagodarum''. The specific epithet ''pagodarum'' is

Modern Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

meaning "of the temples" or "of the pagodas". Gmelin based his account on the "Le Martin Brame" that had been described in 1782 by the French naturalist

Pierre Sonnerat Pierre Sonnerat (18 August 1748 – 31 March 1814) was a French naturalist, colonial administrator, writer and explorer. He described numerous species of plants and animals on his travels and is honoured in the genus ''Sonneratia'' and in other ...

in his book ''Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine''. Sonnerat mentioned that the bird was found on the Malabar and

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...

s of India. The brahminy starling was formerly placed in the genus ''

Sturnus ''Sturnus'' is a genus of starlings. As discussed below, the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of this group is complex, and other authorities differ considerably in which species they place in this genus, and in the species boundaries within ''Stur ...

''. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2008 found that the genus was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. In the reoganization to create

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genera, the brahminy starling was one of five starlings moved to the resurrected genus ''

Sturnia ''Sturnia'' is a genus of Asian birds in the starling family Sturnidae. It is sometimes merged with ''Sturnus''. Taxonomy The genus ''Sturnia'' was introduced in 1837 by the French naturalist René Lesson. He designated the type species as ''Pas ...

'' that had been introduced in 1837 by

René Lesson René Primevère Lesson (20 March 1794 – 28 April 1849) was a French surgery, surgeon, natural history, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist. Biography Lesson was born at Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort, and entered the Naval ...

. The species is

: no

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised.

Description

This myna is pale buff creamy with a black cap and a loose crest. The bill is yellow with a bluish base. The iris is pale and there is a bluish patch of skin around the eye. The outer tail feathers have white and the black primaries of the wings do not have any white patches. The adult male has a more prominent crest than the female and also has longer neck hackles. Juveniles are duller and the cap is browner. The species name ''pagodarum'' is thought to be based on occurrence of the species on buildings and temple pagodas in southern India.

Distribution and habitat

It is a resident breeder in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, a winter visitor to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and a summer visitor in parts of the western and northeastern Himalayas. They are spotted in the plains of Pakistan as well. They have musical call notes that are long, made up of a series of slurred notes that end abruptly. Although mainly seen on the plains, there are a few records from above 3,000m, mainly from

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

. This

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

is typically found in dry forest, scrub jungle and cultivation and is often found close to human habitations. They especially favour areas with waterlogged or marshy lands.

Behaviour and ecology

Food and feeding

Like most starlings, the brahminy starling is omnivorous, eating fruit and insects. They have been known to feed on the fruits of ''

Thevetia peruviana ''Thevetia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described for modern science as a genus in 1758. It is native to Mexico, Central America, South America, and Cuba. The taxonomy of the genus is controversial, with some ...

'' which are toxic to many vertebrates. These birds are not as arboreal as the grey-headed mynas and they form small flocks that mix with other mynas on grass covered ground. They sometimes forage beside grazing cattle. They also visit flowers for nectar, particularly '' Salmalia'', ''

Butea monosperma ''Butea monosperma'' is a species of '' Butea'' native to tropical and sub-tropical parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also known as flame of the forest, Bengal kino, dhak, palash, and bastard teak. Revered as sacred by Hindus, it is ...

'' and ''

Erythrina ''Erythrina'' is a genus of plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, with the larger species growing up to in height. These species ...

''. They roost communally in large numbers in leafy trees, often in the company of parakeets and other mynas.

Breeding

It builds its nest in tree holes or artificial cavities. The breeding season is March to September but varies with location, being earlier in southern India. The season coincides with the fruiting of many plants and the young hatch just as the rains begin. The male selects the nest, sometimes having to compete with other hole-nesters such as barbets and sparrows. The male displays by puffing up feathers, fanning the tail, erecting the crest and raising up its bill. Both sexes take part in nest building. The nest is lined with grass, feathers and rags. The normal clutch is three to four eggs which are pale bluish green. The females do not add replacement eggs when eggs are removed nor do they stop laying if an egg is artificially added. Incubation begins only after laying the second egg with the female brooding at night with the male share limited to brief periods during the day. The eggs hatch in about 12 to 14 days. The young fledge and leave the nest when they are three weeks old. The young are fed with insects in the early stages and grains in the later stages. After feeding the parents wait for the young to eject faecal pellets which they carefully remove and drop about away from the nest. Two or three broods may be raised in succession.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahminy myna

brahminy starling The brahminy starling or brahminy myna (''Sturnia pagodarum)'' is a member of the starling family of birds. It is usually seen in pairs or small flocks in open habitats on the plains of the Indian subcontinent. Taxonomy The brahminy starling was S ...

Birds of South Asia