How Australia fell out of love with the 'gentle' common myna
Attitudes to common mynas flipped from praise in the early 1900s to hatred by the 1980s, though the bird itself never changed.
The common myna was not always Australia's enemy. In 1886, a Sydney newspaper called them "dear, gentle, sprightly, and highly amusing".
In 1906, a respected naturalist described Melbourne's mynas as "extremely spruce and graceful". Even as late as 1971, Australia's most revered birdwatcher wrote that mynas caused no economic damage and were "an entertainer" in parks and streets.
The bird arrived in Queensland around 1883, introduced to control locusts and insects. By 2000 it made the international list of the 100 worst invasive species.
It was only in the 1970s that public opinion noticeably turned. By the 1980s and 1990s, hatred became entrenched.
The cheerful bird was now described as "bold, arrogant and fiercely aggressive". Some language turned xenophobic, comparing mynas to unwanted migration.
Peer-reviewed research later found mynas could outcompete native parrots for breeding space. Yet the myna had not changed at all.
It looked and behaved the same in the 1860s as in the 1990s. Public attitudes changed, transforming a friendly creature into something malevolent.
- Around 1883
- Year arrived
- Queensland
- First location
- 1970s
- Opinion shift started
- 100 worst worldwide by 2000
- Worst invasive species ranking
Why it mattersThe story shows how we blame introduced species for problems that may stem from our own changing views and habitat loss, raising questions about whether some conflicts are unwinnable.
AustraliaAustralians spend effort and money trapping mynas, but the effort may be largely futile and could displace other problems, removing mynas sometimes lets more aggressive native species like the noisy miner take over.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 1 h ago
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