Management of Northern Hill Myna Gracula Religiosa Intermedia in Cage for Talking

Introduction

As Passeriformes birds are very talkative so Hill Myna is a nice talking bird. The common name of myna is starling and the word mynah is derived from Hindi ‘maina’ means madana which is ‘joyful/delightful’. In Sanskrit meaning, this is ‘Messenger of God’. Its vocal cord is fine in structure so it can produce lots of different sound in nature or in captivity. Indian Hill Myna is the number one talking birds of Bangladesh. Once upon a time it was very common cage bird in most houses but now due to wildlife act it has been reduced. This bird is our local hill birds available in Sylhet and Chittagong Hill Tracts. It is reared in small cages and mainly one. Rearers say that if they pet one the talking ability is made excellent. Due to small cages it not moves freely and for one sex it passes lonely life and this creates breeding barrier after releasing in jungle. This is the first stage of cruelty to this bird. Most of the cage birds of the local species finally die. Mismanagement and unhygienic environment are the main cause for this death. Moreover, people are not conscious for its disease. On the rump of Myna, wound is very common. In this case, in jungle, it takes some fruits which are helpful to cure such kind of problem.

Rearers suggest that poprika with rice is the solution for this case. But it is true that maximum Myna dies in cage for this treatment. That is why the Hill Myna is decreasing day by day. Bangladesh Wildlife Society collects that Myna from various shops in Bangladesh then releases in the forest occasionally. Tribal people in jungle and illegal poachers are related to catch or hunt this nice talking bird. In some cases, we can make a large-sized aviary and by breeding, we can release chicks in nature. This bird is popular talkative bird in western countries. All sub species are more or less same devoid the structure of nape-wattle. In zoo or for road-side commuters this bird hears lots of sentences and repeat as same. After releasing this bird in jungle such type of talking ability is lost automatically for their gregarious natural life. Its voice is loud and is different types of whistle is very common. Myna is very fond of bathe and it has daily two times bathe record. It is very clean, hardy, high tempered and perching bird. Its audio-visual perception is very strong and repeats the same word within the short time. Morning and dawn are their main talking time. It lives in tropical, moist-deciduous, and semi-evergreen forest. These birds are almost arboreal and hardly ever to the ground. Ceylon Hill Myna is also a popular cage bird [1].

During resting it is constantly call and answer one another in low conversational croaks. Its voices are– whistle, wails, screech, and gurgle. Till now this bird showed 3-13 repertoire call- types. This Myna was practiced to utter total 9 voices- major, hallo, tomar num ki, bhat dao, sattar bhai, najma ara koi, o priya o priya tumi kothai, amar nam moina, romeo etc and after hear sudden new sentences it could reply most of the time (Figure 1). The common voice of pet Myna in Bangladesh is moina kotha kao [4]. Due to talking ability this bird now in threatened species in some areas [5]. Hill Myna farming is more profitable at present [6]. Northern sub species (intermedia) are usually taken from the nest before fledging and then hand-reared, whereas the southern birds sub species (indica) mostly trapped as adults, which rarely tame [7]. There were at least 50-60 endangered hill mynas were captured from Dhaka Kataban and released them its forest [8]. Breeding of Myna is not too difficult [9]. In ancient Greece there a lot of people who reared Hill Myna for nice talking [10]. Illegal trade of Hill Myna is a regular practice in most roadside markets.

Materials and Methods

Observed Hill Myna was in intermedia sub species and its age was seven years. A pair was collected from Chittagong Hill Tracts and one died by pneumonia. The measurement of the cage was about 24 x 18 x 21 inch. In captivity, Myna is used to regular bathe. Supplied foods were rice, poprika, bread, liver and gizzard of chicken with rice, all fruits especially ripe papaw and orange etc. Very bad food for myna is chocolate, cherry, apple pips, avocado, and peaches. The rearing cage needs to maintain 40-watt bulb and 12 inches away from the cage and the ideal room temperature should 960 Fahrenheit [2]. The outdoor aviary for mynas should maintain 4 x 5 x 3 metre cube. The southern sub species is the biggest and more aggressive [3].

Results and Discussion

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now in danger [16]. Both sub species (Gracula religiosa intermedia and Gracula religiosa religiosa) were bred successfully for three generations at the Zoological Research Station, Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok, Thailand [17, 18]. In India, the pet record of this Myna is 2000 years [3].