Martin huppé

Identification

The crested myna is named after the tuft of feathers that form a crest-like structure on its forehead that covers the bird's nostrils. It is mostly black with a slight green sheen. It has a couple of white wing patches under its wings which are more visible during flight. The tips and the base of the primaries are white. The tail feathers also have white tips with the exception of the middle pair. The under-tail coverts are black with a white tip. The adult's eyes are orange, its bill is pale yellow, and its legs are a dull dark yellow. Its bill is slender and very sharp. The males are slightly larger than the females. The female's crest is slightly less well-developed. Otherwise, there is no sexual dimorphism. The subspecies A. c. brevipennis, has proportionally smaller wings and a smaller bill. The feathers that form the crest are narrower than the ones from the nominate subspecies. A. c. formosanus is slightly smaller than the nominate subspecies and its bill is greenish-yellow. Its under-tail coverts are white and it has a more developed crest.<p>The hatchlings are born naked except for of a short gray down found on certain parts of the bird. In about 18 to 20 days, the juveniles become fully covered with brown feathers. The crest is usually not well developed at this stage. Immature crested mynas have blue-gray eyes.

Taxonomie

In 1743 the English naturalist George Edwards included a picture and a description of the crested myna in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "Chinese starling or Black Bird". When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the crested myna with the other mynas in the genus Gracula. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Gracula cristatella and cited Edwards' work. The specific epithet cristatella is a Latin diminutive of cristatus meaning"crested" or "plumed". The crested myna is now placed in the genus Acridotheres that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. It was previously placed in the genus Aethiospar, which included the mynas that had a fully feathered or tufted face. Acridotheres was formerly the group of bare-skin faced mynas. Now, the two genera form a new group that keeps the name Acridotheres.<p>Three subspecies are recognised:

Nom scientifique

Acridotheres cristatellus

Autorité

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Ordre

Passériformes

Famille

Sturnidés

Genre

Acridothère

Répartition et habitat

The crested myna can be found in a wide range of habitats from urban to rural areas. In cities, it can be seen in the eaves of buildings, along roads and alleys, near gardens and parks, in parking lots. It can be found under bridges, in trees, in chimneys, and on roofs. In rural areas, it can be spotted on agricultural fields, in orchards and farmyards, near manure piles. It can be seen near plowed fields to take advantage of the invertebrates found in the tilled soil. It is often seen near cattle as it eats the insects around them. It is also commonly distributed in grasslands, fields and at the edge of forests.<p>The range spans from southeastern and central China to northern Indochina. It is found in the Yangtze valley and the southeastern Jiangxi Province in China. The crested myna has also been recorded in Burma, Taiwan and Hainan.<p>As a popular cage bird, it is often transported outside of its normal range and, on occasion, can be accidentally released and introduced in a new area. For example, in the late 1800s, it was introduced to Vancouver, British Columbia. It was able to proliferate and its population grew to around 20,000 to 30,000 individuals. It could be found anywhere from the south of the province to Washington and Oregon. By the mid-20th century, the numbers began declining, and the bird is now extirpated in North America. Other examples of the crested myna's introduction can be seen in Portugal. The bird was discovered breeding around Lisbon, Portugal in 1997. They are now established on both sides of the Tagus estuary to the west of Lisbon and also on the Setúbal Peninsula.<p>The crested myna has also been successfully introduced in Penang, Singapore, Manila, as well as parts of Japan and Argentina.The Crested myna is called "Martinez" in the Philippines

Migration

Espèce sédentaire

Comportement

Mode de migration: Espèce sédentaire.

Conservation

Tendance de la population: stable.

Tendance de la population

stable