by Neil Thomson
Of late there have been several sightings of Common Mynas in Namibia, many in new areas indicating that this invasive alien species is spreading rapidly in parts of the country. These sightings have invoked a chorus of cries for them to be shot or otherwise destroyed which in turn has resulted in other people questioning why the birds should be destroyed.
Over the years there have been several short articles in Lanioturdus on the spread of the mynas in Namibia and a few sightings have been recorded in the “Rarities and Interesting Observations” column in the journal.
I thought it would be worthwhile to reproduce these articles and sightings here to indicate just how this problem species is spreading in Namibia. All the articles below were written by me and the extractions are from the rarity columns which I compiled.
The first article on mynas in Namibia of which I am aware was published in Lanioturdus 47(1) in March 2014.
Common Mynas in Namibia (From Lanioturdus 47-1 – March 2014).
While browsing around the atlas data submitted for Namibia on the SABAP2 website I happened to notice (with great astonishment) that the Common Myna Acridotheres tristis had been atlased at Rosh Pinah.
Thinking that this was a first for Namibia I followed this up and discovered that the bird had been seen by Mike Yates bathing under a lawn sprinkler there in May 2013. Mike informed me that Holger Kolberg had seen Common Mynas at Oranjemund in the past and that this record was thus not a first for Namibia.
Holger confirmed that he had seen a small group of Common Mynas in Oranjemund about five years previously. I also found out that Chris Brown had gone looking for mynas at Rosh Pinah after Mike’s sighting but had failed to find any birds.
Common Mynas are invasive aliens that have been introduced in many countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand and Samoa. It is believed that they were introduced to the Durban area of South Africa in 1888 and “successfully” released in 1900. By 1953 they had spread along the KwaZulu/Natal coast and to the Midlands. These first birds were of the subspecies A t tristides which is found in Myanmar, Assam and Nepal. There was a separate introduction in the Johannesburg area in 1938 but these birds were of the nominate race A t tristis which is found in India and Sri Lanka. In 1953 these birds were still fairly localized but had spread to Pretoria by 1955, Mahalapye in Botswana by 1975, Gaborone by 1991, Swaziland by 1993 and Polokwane by 1997. In October 2013 they were reported in Maputo, Mozambique. A Common Myna was reported in Bellville in the Western Cape in December 2013. This species has shown a greater range expansion than any other species since the end of SABAP1. In December 2008 I saw these birds just west of Lobatse in eastern Botswana while in November 2013 I saw them in Kang nearly 400 km to the northwest. The westernmost SABAP2 record (excluding the Rosh Pinah and Bellville records) seems to be northwest of Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and I saw a number of them in Kuruman itself in December 2013. Trans-Kalahari Border Post (Buitepos) and Ariamsvlei be warned – they are on their way!
The Common Myna features on the IUCN list of the 100 worst invasive species. The birds are regarded to be a public nuisance as they are raucously noisy and their droppings foul buildings and trees. They are also a human health hazard as their droppings can spread Psittacosis, Ornithosis, Salmonellosis and Arboviruses. They are known to fearlessly steal food off plates posing a hygiene risk and they damage fruit crops. They are also known to have had significant impacts on threatened species in Australia, New Zealand, St Helena, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands and the Comoro Islands.
How these birds came to Oranjemund is a mystery although it seems highly likely that they were brought in as cage birds and either escaped or were released there. The fact that one was seen some years later at Rosh Pinah some 80 km from Oranjemund is
disconcerting. These are also extremely “clever” birds and are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate once they have become established.
I really think that we do not need the Common Myna establishing itself in Namibia.
References
Craig, A.J.F.K. 2005. Common Myna Acridotheres tristis. In: Roberts Birds of Southern Africa 7th edition. Hockey, P.A.R., Dean W.R.J., Ryan, P.G. (eds.), p 972. Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
Craig, A.J.F.K. 1997. Indian Myna Acridotheres tristis. In: The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Vol 2: Passerines. Harrison, J.A., Allan, D.G., Underhill, L.G., Herremans, M., Tree, A.J., Parker, V., Brown, C.J. (eds.), p 454.
Underhill, L.G. April Aliens. ADU Website.