Myna inconvenience

ohrid20 said :

I am a fan of the AFL Team “Carlton Blues” would that be why magpies are more aggressive towards me?? 😉

No, I think it’s because you have teeth.

I am a fan of the AFL Team “Carlton Blues” would that be why magpies are more aggressive towards me?? 😉

This is when you need to carry folding slingshot in your pocket, and 5 mm steel balls.:D

Lolz to this one, I was walking back to Campbell from my shopping trip to Manuka (much cheaper than the same effort in some stupid gym) and decided to go through the Christian Centre next to Edmund Barton Building, down the grassy slope and cross into the bit of bush inside the exit lane from Kings Avenue Bridge, a place where very few people venture because the trendy walking is all done on the other side of the bridge. Just crossed the kerb intending to cut across to the lesser-used footpath on Kings Avenue Bridge, when I was swooped by a rather cranky mynah, several times. Seems that dimensional judgement wasn’t one of its strong points. Alas for the mynah’s dreams of world domination starting in that barren corner of Canberra, an ample supply of fallen branches and a good throwing arm resulted in said mynah getting somewhat of an unexpected barrage, from which it withdrew quite quickly. Have walked through there several times since and haven’t been hassled. Seems they don’t have the persistence of vindictiveness of the magpie.

churl said :

Sure that they weren’t the native Noisy Miners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noisy_miner)?
These also have a yellow beak but with a grey body (the black on the head allegedly resembles a miner’s cap? it’s been a long time since the Cotter mine closed, so I don’t know how true that is).
They certainly dive bomb cats and dogs around here.

The feral Indian Myna / Mynah also has a yellow beak, but is more heavily built and has a head almost all black and brownish body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Myna). It is introduced and is a significant ecological problem.

Both live in Canberra.

Yep, the noisy miners are prolific swoopers, though usually they target dogs and cats. You can easily tell the difference because the noisy variety lives up to his name.

churl said :

Sure that they weren’t the native Noisy Miners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noisy_miner)?
These also have a yellow beak but with a grey body (the black on the head allegedly resembles a miner’s cap? it’s been a long time since the Cotter mine closed, so I don’t know how true that is).
They certainly dive bomb cats and dogs around here.

The feral Indian Myna / Mynah also has a yellow beak, but is more heavily built and has a head almost all black and brownish body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Myna). It is introduced and is a significant ecological problem.

Both live in Canberra.

Now that I think about it they probably are noisy mynas, good thing I just used the generic “mynas”. I think it may have something to do with the dog, I only seem to be swooped when I’m walking her, she doesn’t even seem to notice the birds though.

Yeah I have seen two of these Myna’s make the mistake of swooping my nutjob blue heeler. She jumped 5 foot into the air like she was catching a frisbee but instead it was the Myna that was in her mouth. She has done this twice. Maybe the OP needs to buy a blue heeler?

Sure that they weren’t the native Noisy Miners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noisy_miner)?
These also have a yellow beak but with a grey body (the black on the head allegedly resembles a miner’s cap? it’s been a long time since the Cotter mine closed, so I don’t know how true that is).
They certainly dive bomb cats and dogs around here.

The feral Indian Myna / Mynah also has a yellow beak, but is more heavily built and has a head almost all black and brownish body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Myna). It is introduced and is a significant ecological problem.

Both live in Canberra.

Disinformation said :

I knew that they were considered agressive, but towards other birds. First I’ve heard of them swooping at people. Just another reason to join the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group http://www.indianmynaaction.org.au/ and assist in their elimination. Any chance you could video another encounter?

I could try, can’t be certain about the quality of the video though.

I knew that they were considered agressive, but towards other birds. First I’ve heard of them swooping at people. Just another reason to join the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group http://www.indianmynaaction.org.au/ and assist in their elimination. Any chance you could video another encounter?