Common Hill Mynah

This bird “talks” as well as – if not even better than – an African Grey Parrot.

Its gift of imitation is exceptional: whistles, various noises, whistled tunes, human voices… but contrary to common belief, it does not imitate in the wild the calls of other birds!

The Common Hill Mynah can – in average - repeat about fifteen different “noises”, learnt when the bird is young.

It lives in little groups, in the forests of the Indian sub-continent and South-East Asia. It is very noisy, uttering long, sonorous and very recognizable cries.

Its plumage is of a beautiful metallic black with a collar and “sideburns” of yellow skin and an orange beak and legs contrasting with its feathers.

Though much appreciated as a “talking” bird and therefore the subject of an active trade, the species is not (yet?) threatened.