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| Sunday, 12 December 2004 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Mynah : The 'clown' of the bird world
A mynah is easy to tame and train. It is alert, inquisitive and highly entertaining and if you take proper care of it, a mynah will live up to 25 years. The common mynah has an orange-brown to black overall colour, with a darker shade on the wings. Its crown is black. It has bright yellow wattles, which are featherless skin areas on the sides and back of the head. No doubt you would love to have a talking mynah. If you want to do so it is best to get a birdling of about six to eight weeks, which you will need to hand feed. Because then it will be easy for you to develop the bonding, interaction and speech training this bird. This lovely bird will repeat the sound it hears. In the early stages, its voice might sound raspy and the words may sound broken, but do not worry because this will improve with practice. Here is some important advice, DO NOT WHISTLE TO YOUR BIRD; it may decide it likes whistling better than talking.
Your pet mynah will also enjoy some vegetables such as cooked potatoes, cooked sweet potatoes and rice. Food such as fish, chopped boiled eggs, chicken, beans and lettuce are also some good protein sources for your pet. A mynah needs water right throughout the day. It drinks by dipping its bill into the water to scoop it up, then raises its head to let the water run down its gullet. Therefore, you need to provide plenty of water. The mynah loves to bathe twice a day, so remember to place a dish large enough for it to do so inside the cage. It will splash around in the water, dunk its head and soak itself to the skin. It will dry itself by shaking the water off and then running its beak through its feathers. It also shakes its head. A mynah usually bathes after it returns to the cage from spending time-out of it, especially if it has been handled. Bathing should be allowed in the morning so that it has the entire day to dry off. A mynah does not need a strong cage but a very roomy one. Due to its high-fruit diet, cage cleaning becomes a daily affair. Be careful of your floors and those clean walls, because a mynah is a messy eater and a notorious food thrower. Remember to provide it with a cosy private place to sleep, either by placing a box inside its cage or simply leaving an open paper bag, which has the added advantage of being easy to dispose of. When your pet is sleepy,it will stretch and yawn and retire to its nest box. The mynah takes short naps during the day but will sleep throughout the night, with the head tucked between its shoulders, facing straight ahead with eyes closed. A mynah rarely tucks its head in its feathers. |
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Known as the 'clown' of the bird world and the best talking bird, many
would love to have a mynah as their pet. In fact, it makes a wonderful
pet.
Do not worry too much about the diet of your pet mynah. Feeding a mynah
is simple because it enjoys bananas, mangoes, papayas, guavas, melons and
apples too. But it is best to avoid avocado and apple seeds, since they
are toxic to most birds. Seeds of any kind are dangerous since they are
difficult to digest.
