Chapter 2: Common Myna

The second and one of the most common birds that I'll be writing about is the Common Myna i.e. Salunki. Their eyes are their most attractive feature which gives them the Sanskrit name "Chitranetra", meaning "one with picturesque eyes". The bright yellow patch on their head looks so beautiful with a wonderful grey-black banded eye in the middle. Just like parakeets, mynas are also capable of making different kinds of sounds. Sometimes it becomes quite confusing to identify the two just by listening to the sound. Speaking of which, mynas are very noisy creatures and are always ready to fight. This behavior gives them the other Sanskrit name "Kalahapriya", meaning "one who likes to quarrel".

These Chitranetras are fond of dancing here and there and chattering continuously. During the lockdown I always watched them dance around on the bamboos and chirping all day. They also used to visit us (not really visit) with Neem seeds in their beaks. They still do that though, sitting on the roofs of lower houses, peeling the seeds, and eating the inside part. Once they are done with this all they have left for the day is............ Fighting!!! Or as my mom likes to call it in marathi "नळावरची भांडणं"

Their fights get quite exciting and entertaining sometimes. One fine afternoon two couples of Kalahapriya started fighting over something. In the beginning, they were only screeching at each other while sitting on two different roofs. Later they started attacking each other and got so busy pulling each other's feathers that a couple literally fell! They continued their fight even after falling and the other two got busy screeching. So now you know, the name Kalahapriya hasn't just come up out of the blue.

By the way, in my last post, I had mentioned a rivalry between parakeets and mynas. Well, now that you know how hostile they can get I'll let you think over the reason for their rivalry. Until then, Happy Birding!