Guide to North American Birds

Often regarded as a pest, the Starling wins our grudging admiration for its adaptability, toughness, and seeming intelligence. Brought to North America in 1890, it has spread to occupy most of the continent, and is now abundant in many areas. Sociable at most seasons, Starlings may gather in immense flocks in fall and winter. When the flocks break up for the breeding season, males reveal a skill for mimicry, interrupting their wheezing and sputtering songs with perfect imitations of other birds.

Native to southern Asia, Common Mynas have been sold as cage birds all over the globe. Escapees from captivity have established feral populations in many regions of the world, including southern Florida, where the species is now thriving in cities and suburbs.

Native to southern Asia, the Crested Myna was introduced at Vancouver, British Columbia, in the 1890s. It prospered for many years, with the population building up into the thousands, but it never spread far beyond the Vancouver area. Numbers began declining by the middle of the 20th century, and the Vancouver population seems to have disappeared.