At one time, "talking" Mynah Birds were among the most common and popular of the exotic "pet" birds" in the U.S. Now, that is decidedly not the case! What factors have led to their demise in commonality and popularity?

Why Aren't Mynah Birds Popular in the U.S.?

Great article, Les. I've seen the Greater Indian Hill Mynah and I really like them. It is too bad that they are not popular anymore. Thanks for doing the research and sharing the information with us.

Les,

I have some doubts about the belief that hill mynahs suffers from this hemochromatosis problem. Especially when it is considered that the favourite food of hill mynahs in the wild happens to be figs, rich in Vitamin C and iron.

I even read that hill mynahs should not be given fruits rich in Vitamin C , not withstanding that they are fruguvorous omnivores in the first place.

I wrote a bit more of that here including bizarre interpretations of giving tea to hill mynahs.

Woes of a hill mynah food formulator // Jackie getting to know me
http://shanlung.livejournal.com/133495.html

Why folks tend to think of hill mynahs might be prone to hemochromatosis was explained by me in my findings and accidental discovery on the metabolism of Jackie, my Greater Indian Hill Mynah.

Written in
36 Strategems// Metabolic studies on Jackie and first voilational flight// Perfidious Sieben

http://shanlung.livejournal.com/135845.html

Perhaps there might be a lot more hill mynahs still alive in captivity and USA if they have known their demise might not be to hemochromatosis problems.

Hi Shanlung and all,

Thanks for providing a different perspective about Greater Hill Mynahs and hemochromatosis. Yours is the first source of information that I have come across that questions that theory of problems with iron so thanks again for bringing that to our attention. In your part of the world are there any current studies being conducted regarding those amazing birds and health concerns, both in the wild and in captivity?
Also, I had read in various sources as you had written that the literature states that mynahs should not be given oranges or any other fruits high in Vitamin C.

Les,

200 to 300 years ago, experts of those days proclaimed greys did not need water at all. I wondered how many thousands of greys died from the advice of those experts. Perhaps as many hill mynahs had died from the advice of not giving them fruits and other stuff.

I am only a student as I am still learning. I prefer to be student as experts seemed to stop their learning. Not that that stopped them from making lofty proclamations sprinkled liberally with multisyllibic words to give their writings as much weight as possible.

Don't you think it is so ludicrous that no less than literature demanded the minions who read those literature not to give fruguvorous bird fruits, as those fruits are high in vitamin C?

You dig a bit more and you find literature requesting you to give tea to hill mynahs so as to block intact of iron. I wonder what wild hill mynahs had to make wulung tea to stay alive all the time in the wild. Maybe at a tea shop for hill mynahs only.

I always thought the best is to approximate what the hill mynahs eat in the wild, which happens to be figs high in iron and vitamin C.

And yes, wild hill mynahs fly about too. Something most people do not allow their hill mynahs to do.

Jackie my hill mynah will fly to the scale at a word or gesture so it was so easy, and pleasurable for me to do those metabolic studies. Best that what I done is read with the weights as scales do not lie. I never expected those findings the way it happened. Those experts who want to disagree with me will find it hard to sweep away those daily weight I took of Jackie.

But again, I am regarded as a mad heretic that many experts wanted to tar and feathered for a long long time.

As strangely, my birdies and beasties seemed to do things for me that they dreamed of.

And yes, thousands of photos taken of them to see the state of their health too.