During a trip to Kruger National Park in 2024, my wife and I spotted a Common Myna feeding what appeared to be a Great Spotted Cuckoo. We were so surprised we forgot to take a photo.
I was reminded about the concern that this alien species invading KNP. I thought at least cuckoos were helping to keep myna numbers down. Once thought out of the myna’s range, a 2024 SANParks report said that 300 birds had been seen in the park since 2000. “Will mynas be able to adapt to Kruger’s savanna system? Simply answered, it appears so,” read the report. “In 2000 already, mynas showed that they could fly long distances to reach Satara and Lower Sabie. Now mynas are common in Letaba, Mopani and Shingwedzi.” Our sighting had been near Letaba.
I was also reminded of a mail from Hugh Chittenden who posed an interesting question. I share it here. Anton Crone
Human perceptions and intolerances
2019 – I never thought I’d be writing about House Sparrows and Common Mynas, but this account is interesting!
Having just returned from a very dry Kruger NP, I’m reminded about a remarkable incident we witnessed there just over a year ago. Picture the following scene:
About 6 km from Mopani Rest Camp, we notice a Common Myna feeding alongside two Waterbuck close to the road verge. I stop to get a photographic record of this avian alien, but I’m awkwardly parked with the rear of my vehicle potentially blocking traffic. The first person that arrives on the scene is the local National Parks Ranger! I apologise and point out that I was trying to photograph the Myna.
The ranger looks in complete disbelief and says, ” Please, you must allow me to shoot it, it’s alien”. I move out the way, he takes my spot, and from the driver’s seat takes aim with a HIGH caliber rifle that probably has the fire power to drop any elephant!!. The myna isn’t sitting still, so after about a minute, Boooooooom – but the Myna is only nicked in the wing! The Waterbuck disappear in complete panic!!! The Parks ranger then gets out and, runs over to the flapping myna, jumps on it and proudly walks back with his trophy to the vehicle!!!!!!!
We were flabbergasted because imagine if overseas tourists had pitched at that awkward moment – they’d be a lot less understanding than us local South African birders!!!
Over the past week we encountered two different pairs of Common Mynas in Kruger, one pair nest building near a reservoir approx 10 km from Shingwedzi, and the other, at Babalala Picnic Site. So Mynas are on the march and slowly establishing themselves in the KNP – even away from rest camps.
Whilst at Babalala Picnic Site, someone asked what I was photographing, “just mynas and sparrows” I replied. She remarked, “something has to be done about these Mynas”.
Now, that remark really got me thinking and is perhaps the main reason for this mail.
House Sparrows are just about everywhere in the park, in good numbers at every rest camp and at many picnic spots. Both Mynas and sparrows are introduced aliens, and sure, mynas are more conspicuous & more intrusive that sparrows, but most people wouldn’t blink an eye at ‘our’ alien sparrows, no matter where they see them. Have we become so accustomed by the presence of sparrows that we no longer notice them, or is it that they are small and unobtrusive that we overlook them? Birders who know Mynas well, know that they carry lice and evict the nestlings of other bird species in order to commandeer their nests or nest sites, but most casual birders don’t know less endearing details like that! Perhaps its that ‘evil-eye’ look about Common Mynas that puts people off?
It seems to me that most people perceive House Sparrows as being acceptable, but Mynas, definitely NOT.
Should National Parks try to control avian aliens in KNP, and if so, should Mynas be viewed as more invasive or more of a problem?
