They came from India originally, probably in the early eighteen hundreds along with the first settlers and landed brazenly in South Africa, quickly and invasively edging from province to province, towards Zimbabwe!! Without even hint of humility bludgeoning their way further and further northwards...
The lowly and much despised Indian Myna bird, one of the three most invasive of bird species in the world, has reached Zimbabwe.
It has the Bird Society of Zimbabwe in a real twitter too!!
The common Myna is a medium-sized chocolate-brown bird with a yellow beak, eye patch, feet and legs. The head, throat and tail are black, with the tail having white tips and white undertail feathers. The large white patches in the wings are noticeably visible when the bird is in flight.
There they stood defiantly on my lawn, bristling in indignation at the other birds who were dive bombing them, frantically, swooping and calling hysterically in defence of their territory.
The Heuglins, the Crested Barbet, the Toppees the Tropical Bou Bou, were all furious and making an incredible din.
Common mynas are aggressive and compete for the same resources as indigenous birds. They are also known to eat the eggs and attack the fledglings of other birds.
Our garden is glorious at the moment, green and lush with indigenous fruits trees abounding, and the date palms!! I have never ever seen them bearing so much fruit. The branches are laden with bright orange dates and the Grey Go-away Birds , The Barbets, the Toppees and the other fruit eating birds all clamber and jostle among the heavily laden golden date clusters.
They are very edible too and the passing youngsters scramble underneath the date palms on the road verge, stuffing the sweet ripe dates in their mouths.
Getting back to the Mynahs apparently If you want a chatty, intelligent bird to share your home, then the mynah bird is the pet for you. Its striking features and friendly personality make this bird a favourite among bird enthusiasts, who consider the mynah one of the best avian mimics of human speech, second only to the grey parrot.
Might be a tad early to go searching for Mynahs birds in a pat shop as they have only just reached our hallowed borders, and watch out for the Bird Society Pundits as they are viewing them with great, and quite justified, suspicion!!!