I don't know whether they were kept as pets or just imported to Canberra and
released. But the story appears clear that they were introduced as well as
self spreading into our area. I don't know about father and son but the
story and family name responsible is well known in Canberra. Yes it is true
that they were deliberately introduced in Canberra in the 1960s & 1970s. 12
on 12-11-1968 and a total of 110 by September 1971. But that does not of
itself explain their subsequent success. Detailed in Steve Wilson's book.
What is more far important is the huge effort gone into trapping them and
they have gone from super abundant to - well not quite rare, but they are in
general terms no longer common. We have all the data from over 30 years of
Garden Bird Survey to support this. If you want to know about Garden Bird
Survey, that is in my book (although the Myna control program post dates
that).
Typical, Canberra gets to suffer from the (talking) rabble invading us from
other parts of the country.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Greg and Val Clancy
Sent: Sunday, 19 January 2014 5:49 PM
To: Carl Clifford; Laurie Knight
Cc:
Subject: Buddy the talking Sgtarling
It is probably an urban myth but the story that I heard was that an elderly
man from Sydney retired to Canberra (? into a nursing home) and missed the
'wonderful sound' of the Common Mynas so his son introduced them there to
keep his father happy. I know that they were moving along the Hume Highway
some decades ago so may have arrived independently of the old man's son but
it makes a good story.
Regards
Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
| PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
| 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960
http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com
http://gregswildliferamblings.blogspot.com.au/
-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Clifford
Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 5:38 PM
To: Laurie Knight
Cc:
Subject: Buddy the talking Sgtarling
Just had a look at HANZAAB, and the original introduction was to Melbourne,
then introduced to QLD on several occasions (Birds in Backyards lead me
astray on that point).
The reason for the concentration around Canberra may be because they were
still being released there as late as Sept 1971!
> On 19 Jan 2014, at 16:38, Laurie Knight <>
> wrote:
>
> Yes, but wasn't the reason there was such a concentration around
> Canberra
> because someone was keeping them as pets?
>
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