Bali Myna

Bali Star ( Leucopsar Rothschildi )

The Bali starling or Bali Mynah ( Leucopsar Rothschildi ) is a highly endangered species from the family of Starlings ( Sturnidae ). He was discovered in 1910 and first described in 1912 by German ornithologist Erwin Stresemann. The specific epithet honors the British nobles and zoologist Lord Rothschild.

Features

The Bali starling reached a size of about 25 centimeters. The plumage is snowy white with black wing and tail tips. The featherless facial skin is blue. The eyes are dark brown. The beak is bluish gray and yellow. The legs are gräulichblau. On the head there is a white bonnet. Their diet consists of ants, termites and caterpillars as well as from fruits and seeds.

Breeding behavior

Little is known about the breeding behavior in the wild, but we know from observation in captivity, that the males are very aggressive to other dogs. In American zoos that pairs breed from May to June and typically lay 3-4 eggs. The nests are laid out in woodpecker holes, crevices or nest boxes and padded with straw, twigs, grass and feathers. In the wild, the breeding season in October / November.

Threats and conservation measures

The Bali starling was already living at the time of its discovery in 1911 only in a fifty -kilometer Küstenstreifem in the northwest of Bali. It is possible that the wild population never amounted to more than 900 individuals. In the 1970s there were no more than 200 wild individuals, all of which occurred on the territory of Bali Barat National Park. At the time it was a criminal offense under Indonesian law to catch or sell Bali starlings.

The Bali starling is threatened primarily by deforestation in Bali and now by the illegal pet trade with extinction. He is currently with wealthy Asians as highly prized cage bird. In 1999, the black market price was approximately U.S. $ 2,000 per bird. Although trading after the CITES agreement is prohibited succeeded due to corruption and mismanagement armed groups again and again to acquire even born in captivity animals and resell on the black market. Surveys are not simply because of the fluctuation. For example, counted BirdLife 6 birds in 2001. Expedition in the case of a single protected area, the Bali Barat National Park in Bali, where this species occurs, there were 24 specimens in March 2004. In 2006, 37 Bali Starlings were in a bird sanctuary on Nusa Penida, an island off the southeast coast of Bali, wild. Since this island has a drier climate than Bali, was not sure if this reintroduction program would be successful. However, the Bali starlings adapted themselves to the local conditions well and even started in the tops of palm trees and fig trees to nest, while they are on Bali cavity nesters, using the scale of other birds caves. On Nusa Penida now live a hundred Bali starlings.

The outstanding amounts in captivity can not be determined accurately due to the many illegal attitudes. There are probably more than a thousand copies in zoos and aviaries. At the conservation breeding of the Cologne Zoo is involved, among other things.