Acridotheres
Encyclopedia
Acridotheres is a genus
of starling
s, the "typical" myna
s, which are tropical members of the family
Sturnidae. This genus has representatives in tropical southern Asia
from Iran
east to southern China
and Indonesia
. Two species have been introduced widely elsewhere. The Common Myna has been introduced to South Africa
, Israel
, Hawaii
, North America
, Australia
and New Zealand
, and the Crested Myna to the Vancouver region of British Columbia
.
The Acridotheres mynas are generally dark or dull birds with and fluted calls like most starlings; the sexes are similar. They walk rather than hop, and have modifications to the skull and its muscles for open bill probing. They resemble the hill mynas (Gracula
) with which they often co-occur, in having large white or buff wing patches which are obvious in flight and in some also naked areas on the head, but differ in that only the head plumage is glossy, and the underparts tend to be paler. The naked head patches are different in arrangement. Acridotheres mynas are also much more terrestrial than Gracula.
They have bowing courtship displays, whereas Gracula has no visual display. They lay unmarked pale blue eggs.
Several species have frontal crests which become covered with pollen when the birds take nectar from flowers, and may play a role in pollination.
Like most starlings, the Acridotheres mynas are fairly omnivorous
, eating fruit
, nectar and insect
s.
, such as the Common Starling, and also African ones like the Lamprotornis
glossy-starlings. Among these, they are among the larger and duller species; they seem to be one of the major groups to evolve
most recently. Apparently, they all arose from ancestors which arrived from Central Asia
and adapted to more humid conditions in the Tropics
. They presumably were isolated in about their current range when the evolutionary radiation
to which they belonged - including the Wattled Starling
and the Sturnia
species - was fragmented by desertification
of their of origin at the start of the Early Pliocene, as Earth turned towards the last ice age 5 million years ago.
The 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 Acridotheres.
The following is a list of "core" Acridotheres species in taxonomic order:
The 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 Acridotheres. Several species from the paraphyletic Sturnus
assemblage are often placed in Acridotheres. Indeed, as more recent studies suggest (Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006, Zuccon et al. 2006), this is most likely correct.
The last two are probably rather basal in the entire group and might even be closer to Sturnia
. The relationships of the White-faced Starling
are more unclear, but it is generally not held to be close to the present genus.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of starling
Starling
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The name "Sturnidae" comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called mynas, and many African species are known as glossy starlings because of their iridescent...
s, the "typical" myna
Myna
The myna is a bird of the starling family . This is a group of passerine birds which occur naturally only in southern and eastern Asia...
s, which are tropical members of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Sturnidae. This genus has representatives in tropical southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
east to southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Two species have been introduced widely elsewhere. The Common Myna has been introduced to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and the Crested Myna to the Vancouver region of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
The Acridotheres mynas are generally dark or dull birds with and fluted calls like most starlings; the sexes are similar. They walk rather than hop, and have modifications to the skull and its muscles for open bill probing. They resemble the hill mynas (Gracula
Gracula
Gracula is a genus of mynas, tropical members of the starling family of birds. Until recently only two species were recognised, G. religiosa and G. ptilogenys; earlier still all Gracula were considered to belong to a very variable species commonly called Hill Myna. But three additional subspecies...
) with which they often co-occur, in having large white or buff wing patches which are obvious in flight and in some also naked areas on the head, but differ in that only the head plumage is glossy, and the underparts tend to be paler. The naked head patches are different in arrangement. Acridotheres mynas are also much more terrestrial than Gracula.
They have bowing courtship displays, whereas Gracula has no visual display. They lay unmarked pale blue eggs.
Several species have frontal crests which become covered with pollen when the birds take nectar from flowers, and may play a role in pollination.
Like most starlings, the Acridotheres mynas are fairly omnivorous
Omnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
, eating fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
, nectar and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s.
Systematics
Despite being both called "mynas", the Acridotheres mynas are closer related to a group of mainly terrestrial starlings from EurasiaEurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
, such as the Common Starling, and also African ones like the Lamprotornis
Lamprotornis
Lamprotornis is a large genus of glossy-starlings all of which occur in Africa south of the Sahara. They have glossy blue or green upper parts, which is due to hollow melanin granules arranged in a single layer near the feather barbule’s surface...
glossy-starlings. Among these, they are among the larger and duller species; they seem to be one of the major groups to evolve
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
most recently. Apparently, they all arose from ancestors which arrived from Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and adapted to more humid conditions in the Tropics
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
. They presumably were isolated in about their current range when the evolutionary radiation
Evolutionary radiation
An evolutionary radiation is an increase in taxonomic diversity or morphological disparity, due to adaptive change or the opening of ecospace. Radiations may affect one clade or many, and be rapid or gradual; where they are rapid, and driven by a single lineage's adaptation to their environment,...
to which they belonged - including the Wattled Starling
Wattled Starling
The Wattled Starling is a nomadic resident in eastern and southern Africa. It is a species of grassland, open woodland and cultivation....
and the Sturnia
Sturnia
Sturnia is a genus of Asian birds in the family Sturnidae. It is sometimes merged with Sturnus.-Species:The old genus placements with the starlings was found to be polyphyletic resulting in changes in the placement...
species - was fragmented by desertification
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
of their of origin at the start of the Early Pliocene, as Earth turned towards the last ice age 5 million years ago.
The taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
of this group is complex, and other authorities differ considerably in which species they place in this genus, and in the species boundaries within Acridotheres.
The following is a list of "core" Acridotheres species in taxonomic order:
- White-vented MynaWhite-vented MynaThe Great Myna is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is also known as the white vented myna, which is also a name for the Javan Myna....
, Acridotheres grandis - Crested MynaCrested MynaThe Crested Myna is a species of starling native to southeastern China and Indochina. Unlike other similar mynas, its bill is dull whitish rather than orange-yellow....
, Acridotheres cristatellus - Javan MynaJavan MynaThe Javan Myna , also known as the White-vented Myna and the Buffalo Myna, is a myna, a member of the Starling family....
, Acridotheres javanicus - Pale-bellied MynaPale-bellied MynaThe Pale-bellied Myna is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is found in Christmas Island, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 24 July 2007....
, Acridotheres cinereus - Jungle MynaJungle MynaThe Jungle Myna, Acridotheres fuscus, is a myna, a member of the starling family.- Range :This bird is a common resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Burma east to Indonesia.- Habitat :...
, Acridotheres fuscus - Collared MynaCollared MynaThe Collared Myna is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family.It is found in China, India, and Myanmar.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 24 July 2007....
, Acridotheres albocinctus - Bank MynaBank MynaBank Myna is a myna found in South Asia. It is smaller but similar in colouration to the Common Myna but differs in having a brick red bare skin behind the eye in place of yellow. It is greyer on the underside and in this and in the presence of a slight tuft of feathers bears some resemblance to...
, Acridotheres ginginianus - Common MynaCommon MynaThe Common Myna or Indian Myna also sometimes spelled Mynah, is a member of family Sturnidae native to Asia. An omnivorous open woodland bird with a strong territorial instinct, the Myna has adapted extremely well to urban environments...
, Acridotheres tristis
The 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 Acridotheres. Several species from the paraphyletic Sturnus
Sturnus
Sturnus is a genus of starlings. As discussed below, the 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 Sturnus....
assemblage are often placed in Acridotheres. Indeed, as more recent studies suggest (Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006, Zuccon et al. 2006), this is most likely correct.
- Vinous-breasted StarlingVinous-breasted StarlingThe Vinous-breasted Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family. It is sometimes placed in the myna genus Acridotheres.-Distribution and habitat:...
, Sturnus burmannicus - alternatively united in Gracupica with Black-collared StarlingBlack-collared StarlingThe Black-collared Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family.It is found in Brunei, Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.... - Asian Pied StarlingAsian Pied StarlingThe Asian Pied Starling or Pied Myna is a species of starling found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They are usually found in small groups mainly on the plains and low foothills. They are often seen within cities and villages although they are not as bold as the Common Myna. They...
, Sturnus contra - Black-winged StarlingBlack-winged StarlingThe Black-winged Starling is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. The species is also known as the Black-winged Myna or the White-breasted Starling. It is endemic to Indonesia...
, Sturnus melanopterus - Red-billed StarlingRed-billed StarlingThe Red-billed Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family.It is found in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.-References:...
, Sturnus sericeus - White-cheeked StarlingWhite-cheeked StarlingThe White-cheeked Starling or Grey Starling is a passerine bird of the starling family. It is native to eastern Asia where it is a common and well-known bird in much of its range. Usually, it is placed in the genus Sturnus, but sometimes it is united with the typical mynas in Acridotheres...
, Sturnus cineraceus
The last two are probably rather basal in the entire group and might even be closer to Sturnia
Sturnia
Sturnia is a genus of Asian birds in the family Sturnidae. It is sometimes merged with Sturnus.-Species:The old genus placements with the starlings was found to be polyphyletic resulting in changes in the placement...
. The relationships of the White-faced Starling
White-faced Starling
The White-faced Starling, Sturnus albofrontatus, is a member of the starling family of birds. It is an endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka. It was for a long time erroneously known as S...
are more unclear, but it is generally not held to be close to the present genus.