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Jungle Myna Acridotheres fuscus Scientific name definitions

Adrian J. F. Craig and C. J. Feare
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated July 3, 2013

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

24 cm; 72–98 g. Greyish myna with elongated and hackled forehead feathers directed upwards in mid-line to form short, bristle-like frontal crest; crown and nape feathers elongated and lanceolate. Nominate race has forehead to nape, neck and cheek glossy black; upperparts brownish-charcoal, paler on rump; wing brownish-black, bronze wash on coverts, white bases of primaries covering about half length of inner primaries; tail brownish-black, rectrices tipped white, broader white band on outer feathers; chin, throat and breast slaty grey, belly paler and tinged buff (particularly on lower belly), undertail-coverts white; iris yellow; bill orange, bluish-black base of lower mandible; legs waxy orange. Sexes alike. Juvenile is browner than adult, crown feathers less hackled and less glossy, wings and tail also browner, less distinct white tips on rectrices, browner below, throat pale, breast and belly feathers dark-centred with pale margins, producing streaked effect. Race mahrattensis is browner than nominate, with iris bluish-white or grey; fumidus is darker, sooty-coloured, with iris yellow; torquatus has longer and more glossy crown hackles, darker flanks and belly, off-white undertail-coverts.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

In the past sometimes considered conspecific with A. grandis; also treated as including A. cinereus and A. javanicus as races. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

Introduced (nominate race) in Fiji, Futuna (1), Samoa (2) and Taiwan.

SUBSPECIES

Acridotheres fuscus fuscus Scientific name definitions

Acridotheres fuscus fuscus
A. f. fuscus

Distribution

N Pakistan E through Himalayan foothills to NE India (Assam), S in lower hills to Rajasthan and N Odisha, and to Bangladesh; also Myanmar (except N and E).
SUBSPECIES

Acridotheres fuscus mahrattensis Scientific name definitions

Acridotheres fuscus mahrattensis
A. f. mahrattensis

Distribution

W India from Rajasthan S to Kerala, E to W Tamil Nadu.
SUBSPECIES

Acridotheres fuscus fumidus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

E Assam and Nagaland, in NE India.
SUBSPECIES

Acridotheres fuscus torquatus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Malay Peninsula (except extreme S).

Hybridization

Hybrid Records and Media Contributed to eBird

  • Burmese x Jungle Myna (hybrid) Acridotheres burmannicus x fuscus
  • Jungle x Javan Myna (hybrid) Acridotheres fuscus x javanicus
  • Jungle x Great Myna (hybrid) Acridotheres fuscus x grandis

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Forest edge and clearings, deciduous woodland near open areas, including cultivated lands, tea plantations, villages and coastal plains; primarily in lowlands and foothills, but to 2000 m in Himalayas. In Fiji (introduced population) primarily in man-modified habitats, occasionally in secondary forest.

Movement

Generally resident; seasonal movements in some regions, such as Nepal. In NE India, race fumidus recently recorded in Calcutta (S West Bengal), far W of normal range.

Diet and Foraging

Diet includes insects, fruit, seeds and nectar. Insect food comprises grasshoppers, mole-crickets and crickets (Orthoptera), termites (Isoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), ants (Formicidae), caterpillars (Lepidoptera), bugs (Hemiptera) and fly larvae (Diptera). Fruits of figs (Ficus), Cordia cylindristachus, Lantana camara, Capsicum and Litsea; seeds of Albizia, Coriandum, cloves (Syzygium), groundnuts (Arachis), as well as cereal grains. Feeds in flowering trees and takes nectar from Erythrina, Bombax, Butea, Careya and Spathodea; pollen collects on crest, and species is considered an important pollinator of these plants. Also takes household food scraps, and forages at refuse dumps. Forages largely on ground, especially in grasslands grazed by cattle; frequently perches on cattle, and hawks insects disturbed by them. Uses open-bill probing to collect insects in grass. Sometimes feeds in trees and bushes, when food sources abundant there. Commonly in flocks; also in pairs. Roosts communally at night in reedbeds, sugar cane and trees, sometimes with other bird species, including A. tristis and Pastor roseus. In Fiji (introduced), roosts contain fewer than 30 individuals, and not associated with A. tristis.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a loud, hoarse "screeow" repeated in short series; group song of harsh grating rasps rapidly repeated in staccato style, interspersed with or terminating with nasal whistles, weak wheezes, whining sounds and other notes. Common contact call a disyllabic or trisyllabic "tiuck-tiuck", repeated frequently; calls similar to those of A. tristis, but higher-pitched.

Breeding

Season Jan–Jul; in India Apr–Jul in N and Feb–May in S; Jan–May in Malaysia; multi-brooded. Monogamous. Colonial breeder when sufficient nest-sites available. Nest a simple structure lined with twigs, roots, feathers and human artefacts, often sloughed snakeskins included, placed in hole in tree, sometimes old hole of woodpecker (Picidae), 2–6 m above ground; artificial structures such as drainage holes in walls also used; holes in limestone cliffs in Malaysia. Clutch 3–6 eggs, turquoise blue; both sexes participate in incubation of eggs and feeding of young; no information on duration of incubation and nestling periods.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally common in Indian Subcontinent; uncommon to locally common in Myanmar and Malay Peninsula. Was introduced in Fiji deliberately as a means of controlling grasshopper pests in sugar-cane plantations; established on Viti Levu and offshore islands, and recorded on Vanua Levu. Records in Tonga and Samoa presumed to involve vagrants from Fiji; apparent successful colonization of Samoa has raised fears that this species could compete for nest-sites with endemic Blue-crowned Lorikeet (Vini australis). In Taiwan, more than 1900 individuals reported in 1999. Considered a pest in parts of range; damages fruit in orchards in India, also causes damage to groundnuts and cloves.
Distribution of the Jungle Myna - Range Map
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Distribution of the Jungle Myna

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. and C. J. Feare (2020). Jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.junmyn1.01
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