The population of starlings is more common in southern China. It is not only an important agricultural and forestry bird, but also a popular cage bird. It can imitate the calls of other birds, as well as simple human language. It is widely raised in domestic cages and introduced to places such as the Philippines and Canada. Starlings mainly live in secondary broad-leaved forests, bamboo forests and forest marginal sparse forests in low mountains and hills and foot plains below 2000 meters above sea level. It feeds on insects such as locusts, grasshoppers, scarabs, snakes, caterpillars, cutworms, flies, lice, and insect larvae. It also eats plant foods such as grains, plant fruits and seeds. The best feed for myna is egg and rice. Myna has strong digestion and a large appetite.
The starling body is jet-black, with spear-shaped forehead feathers extending into clusters and towering over the base of the mouth, shaped like a crown, spear-shaped from the top of the head to the nape of the neck, side of the head, cheeks and ear feathers, velvety black with blue-green metallic luster, and the rest of the upper body is embellished There is lavender brown, not as bright as the black head. The two wings and the back are the same color, and the apex of the primary covering feathers and the base of the primary flying feathers are white, forming broad white wing spots, especially when flying. The tail feathers are black, except for the central pair of tail feathers, all with white end spots. The lower body is dark gray and black, and the perianal and undertail cover feathers have white end spots. The iris is orange-yellow, the mouth is creamy yellow, and the feet are yellow.
Starlings are in groups, often standing on the backs of buffaloes, or gathering on large trees, or standing in rows on the ridge of the roof. At twilight, they often dance in large groups in the air and roost after a few moments of noise. Overnight in bamboo forests, big trees or reeds, and roost in groups with other starlings. Starlings often forage on plowed farmland, or stand on the backs of cattle, pigs and other domestic animals to eat parasites. Lively, active in groups, sometimes in large groups, especially in the evening, in large groups to spend the night on the tree. The nocturnal habitat is relatively fixed, and they often move and forage on the ground nearby, and then fly to the nocturnal habitat one after another until dusk. Be good at tweeting, especially in the evening when it is very noisy.
Wild starlings feed on miscellaneous foods such as locusts, snakes, caterpillars, cutworms, flies, lice and other insects and insect larvae. They also eat plant foods such as grains, plant fruits and seeds. They often follow farmers and cattle behind to pecking at the earthworms, insects, worms, etc., which are unearthed by the plow, and they like to pecking at the fly, flies and ticks on the backs of cattle, and they also prey on locusts. The plant food of starlings is mostly the seeds of various plants and weeds, as well as the stems and leaves of banyan fruits and vegetables. The best feed for myna is egg and rice. The preparation method of egg rice is: put the rice in the pot, stir-fry the rice with a slow fire until it is yellow but not burnt, pour it into the pot, stir the well-stirred raw egg liquid into the rice, stir it well, and break it after cooling. Just rub it and loose it. Generally add 4-6 eggs per kilogram of rice, and add ants, skin worms, lean pork shreds, tender vegetables, bananas, etc. in an appropriate amount. Myna has strong digestion and a large appetite.
The starling who teaches to speak human language should be a young bird under 1 year old. The first step in teaching is to tame the bird. Feed the insect larvae, bananas and other soft fruits that mynah likes to eat by hand. Give some sound signals when feeding, so that the bird will gradually become tame, and then teach to speak. It is best to teach myna to speak in the morning on an empty stomach. Hang the birdcage in a quiet, noise-free room. Let the myna go on a perch, and then repeat a sentence at intervals. The bird will reward several insects every time it learns. Teachers must be patient. Maybe it doesn’t speak for the first two days and don’t "disappoint" the bird. Finally, give a few bugs to help the next time you teach again. In order to focus the bird's attention, you should hold the bug with your left hand and stretch your right hand. Straight index finger as a teaching signal. The pronunciation of teaching should be simple and bright, with syllables from as few as many, learn one sentence and consolidate it before teaching the second sentence. Generally, it takes 3-7 days to learn a sentence, and more than 10 sentences can be learned. A good starling bird can learn to say many words, such as "please come in", "thank you", "goodbye" and so on. If a starling bird who can only speak well can come out of the cage to play, it will be fun to play.