Bali Myna

The Bali mynah, also called Rothschild's mynah, is a stocky starling about 25 cm long, found only in north-western Bali, Indonesia, where it is the island's only endemic vertebrate. It is almost entirely white, with a long drooping crest, black wing and tail tips, and blue bare skin around the eyes. Wild birds stay high in the treetops and usually come to the ground only to drink or collect nesting material. They eat fruit, seeds, worms and insects and nest in tree cavities. The species is critically endangered, with fewer than 50 adults assumed to be left in the wild in 2020.

About the Bali myna

The Bali myna, also known as Rothschild's mynah, the Bali starling, or locally as jalak Bali, is a medium-sized, stocky myna native to Bali, Indonesia. It is almost entirely white, set off by a long, drooping crest and black tips on the wings and tail, with bare blue skin around the eyes, greyish legs, and a brown-and-yellow bill. Both sexes look similar, though males carry a longer crest than females. It was formally described in 1912 by German ornithologist Erwin Stresemann from a female specimen collected on Bali, who placed it in a new genus, Leucopsar — combining Greek words for "white" and "starling" — and named the species rothschildi in honor of Walter Rothschild, who had allowed Stresemann to study specimens at his museum in Tring, England. The Bali myna remains the only species in its genus and appears to be most closely related to the genus Sturnia, which includes the brahminy starling.

At around 25 cm (9.8 in) in length, the Bali myna is a medium-large starling. A similar species, the black-winged myna, has a shorter crest, a much larger area of black on the wings and tail, and a bare yellow eye-ring rather than the Bali myna's blue. The species' range is restricted to northwest Bali and its offshore islands, where it is the island's only endemic vertebrate. In 1991 the bird was designated the faunal emblem of Bali, and it appears on the Indonesian 200 rupiah coin.

Behavior and diet

In its natural habitat the Bali myna is inconspicuous, sticking to tree tops for cover and coming to the ground mainly to drink or to collect nesting material — likely a defense against predators that spot it more easily out in the open. Young birds often gather in groups, which helps them locate food and watch for danger together. Its calls include a range of sharp chattering notes along with an emphatic tweet. Diet includes fruit, seeds, worms, and insects.

Breeding takes place during Bali's rainy season, when males attract females by calling loudly and bobbing up and down. Pairs nest in tree cavities, with the female laying and incubating two or three eggs; once the chicks hatch, both parents share the work of bringing them food.

Range and habitat

The Bali myna's wild range is confined to northwest Bali, including its offshore islands, in Indonesia, where it is the only endemic vertebrate species on the island. As of 2018, wild populations persisted at three sites: West Bali National Park, the small island of Nusa Penida, and the Begawan Foundation's breeding-and-release site at Melinggih Kelod, Payangan. Conservation groups have worked for years to re-establish birds outside the national park, including releases on Nusa Penida and its sister islands Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Lembongan, roughly 14 km off Bali's southeast coast, where local villages have passed traditional regulations protecting birds from poachers.

Conservation status

The Bali myna is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, based on a 2021 BirdLife International assessment, and its wild population has hovered near extinction since at least 1994. As of 2015, fewer than 100 adults were thought to survive in the wild — and by 2020 that estimate had dropped below 50 — against roughly 1,000 birds in captivity. It is listed under Appendix I of CITES, meaning trade is strictly regulated even for captive-bred birds, and the number of birds moved on the black market is estimated at twice the number legally held in breeding programs.

Recovery efforts include a "breeding loan" program run through the Association of Starling Conservationists in Bogor, West Java, in which participating breeders receive birds on the condition that they release 10% of resulting chicks into West Bali National Park. The Begawan Foundation has run its own breeding-and-release program since 1999, growing from two founding pairs to a population of 97 by 2005 and releasing dozens of birds on Nusa Penida in the years since, with support at times from international partners including Jurong Bird Park and members of the European Endangered Species Program. A 2015 audit, however, found fewer than 15 birds still flying on Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan against an expected 200, pointing to illegal wildlife trade as an ongoing drain on the wild population. More recent efforts have shifted toward community-based conservation, including a 2018 village law at Melinggih Kelod that bans hunting or trapping the species and penalizes violators. In the United States, some captive Bali mynas take part in a Species Survival Plan.