Arfi, Maulya

Hermawan, Budi

Iqbal, Muhammad

Istanto, Dedy

Noske, Richard A

Triono, .

English

KUKILA

22 Short Communication  Kukila 18 (1) 2014 The first wild Common Mynas Acridotheres tristis in Java: colonists or aviary escapees? MUHAMMAD IQBAL1, RICHARD A. NOSKE2, BUDI HERMAWAN3, DEDY ISTANTO4, TRIONO3 AND MAULYA ARFI5 1KPB-SOS, Jl. Tanjung api-api km 9 Komplek P & K, Blok E 1 Palembang 30152, Sumatera Selatan. Email: kpbsos26@yahoo.com; 2Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia; 3Banten Wildlife Photography, Banten, Jawa Barat, Indonesia; 4Indonesia Wildlife Photography, Depok, Jakarta 16426, Indonesia; 5State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta, Indonesia Ringkasan: Kerak Ungu Acridotheres tristis merupakan jenis introduksi yang umum terdapat di kawasan Asia Tenggara.  Burung ini telah tercatat secara luas di Semenanjung Malaysia, Singapura, Sumaetra dan Borneo (Kalimantan). Burung ini setidaknya sebelum tahun 2007 tidak tercatat di Jawa, tetapi dalam kurun waktu 2010-2013, setidaknya ada tujuh kali catatan pengamatan burung ini di Jawa. Catatan ini menunjukkan bahwa burung ini telah tersebar di Jawa, mulai dari Banten, Jakarta, Yogyakarta dan Solo. Introduction Although the original distribution of the Common Myna Acridotheres tristis probably extended only from Uzbekistan and Iran in the west through the Indian sub-continent to southwest China in the east, since the early 1900s the species has spread throughout southeast Asia (see Wells 2007). It was not recorded on the Thai-Malay Peninsula until the 1920s, and in Singapore until 1936 (Hails & Jarvis 1987), but it is uncertain whether these populations were derived from natural range expansion or escaped aviary stocks (Wells 2007; Craig & Feare 2009; Seng 2009). The species was first recorded in Sumatra in 1975 in Jambi province, and although it was recorded from North Sumatra to South Sumatra over the following decade, no breeding was recorded, and all birds were considered to be the offspring of captive birds (Marle & Voous 1988; Holmes 1996).  In Borneo the species was also first reported in 1975, in Brunei, but is now known to occur in cities in Sabah and Sarawak, as well as in plantations in East Kalimantan (Mann 2008; Phillipps & Phillips 2009; Iqbal et al. 2013). These populations are often presumed to be derived from captive stock, but could have originated from natural or ship-assisted colonisation (Mann 2008). This note describes the first records of the Common Myna on the island of Java.  Observations Since 2010 we have recorded Common Mynas at five localities in Java (with province in brackets): Ragunan and Monas (Jakarta), Yogyakarta and Solo (Central Java), and Cilegon (Banten) near the western tip of Java. On 10 August 2010, DI observed three Common Mynas on park lawns at Taman Ragunan, South Jakarta (6°19’9”S, 106°49’23”E; Plate 1). In 2012, MA observed at least six birds in the same area. On 14 May 2012, DI sighted one bird in a city park in Monas, Central Jakarta (6°10’33”S, 106°49’39”E), c.12 km from Ragunan. About 90 km west of Kukila 18 (1) 2014 Short Communication 23 Central Jakarta and c. 30 km from the coast of Sumatra, Tr observed and photographed a Common Myna (Plate 3) on suburban lawns in Cilegon, Banten (6°7’12”S, 106°9’1”E) on 7 May 2012. Subsequently BH observed three birds around an open fish pond near a patch of mangroves on the outskirts of Cilegon (5°59’6”S, 105°59’0”E).   Plate 1. Common Myna at Ragunan, August 2010, possibly the first reported from Java.  Plate 2. A Common Myna carrying potential nest material in Yogyakarta in December 2011.  DEDY ISTANTO BUDI HERMAWAN 24 Short Communication  Kukila 18 (1) 2014 On 26 December 2011, BH saw two birds, one of which was collecting nest material, in the city of Yogyakarta, Central Java (7°48’5”S, 110°21’52”E; Plate 2). Finally, on 29 June 2013, two Common Mynas, possible a pair, were observed by MI near a parking area of Adi Sumarmo airport, Solo, Central Java (7°30’92”S, 110°45’81”E).  Plate 3. A Common Myna in Cilegon in May 2012. Discussion Although wild Common Mynas had not previously been reported from Java (MacKinnon & Phillipps 1993; Sukmantoro et al. 2007), we observed small groups at five localities on the island, spanning c. 560 km, between August 2010 and June 2013. While it is possible that the populations in western Java (Banten-Jakarta) originated by natural colonisation from Sumatra, those in Central Java seem unlikely to have been established by birds spreading from the west, within less than two years. It is also possible that some populations were transported accidentally on ships, but observations suggest that a more likely origin is zoos or local bird markets. Although Basuni & Setiyani (1989) did not find captive Common Mynas in the Jl. Pramuka bird markets in Jakarta in December 1987, by 1990 the species was reported from bird markets in both Jakarta and Surabaya (Bell & Seibels 1990). In Jakarta, Nash (1993) observed captive birds in the Jl. Pramuka and/or Barito markets in both December 1991 and May 1992. Indeed the birds we observed in Taman Ragunan in 2010 and 2012 may well have emanated from Ragunan Zoo, which is known to hold captive Common Mynas, only 2 km away. In Medan, North Sumatra, Common Mynas were less numerous than introduced Javan Mynas A. javanicus in markets, but numbers of the former increased from 23 birds in to 415 between 1997 TRIONO Kukila 18 (1) 2014 Short Communication 25 and 2001, while numbers of the latter decreased from 5,000 birds in 1997 to 1,115 in 2001 (Shepherd et al.  2004). Significantly, dealers in Medan claimed to send c. 500 to 1,000 Javan Mynas to Jakarta each week, and it seems probable that some Common Mynas were also exported. The Common Myna has been identified as one of only three birds in the top 100 most invasive species in the world (Lowe et al. 2000). Common Mynas have been introduced to many parts of the world, especially tropical islands, where they are thought to have contributed to the decline, and possibly even the extinction, of several island endemic species through competition for nest-sites or the introduction of alien parasites (Craig & Feare 2009). In Australia, where the species was introduced as early as 1862, there is empirical evidence that the species displaces some large native cavity-nesting bird species, and aggressively forces many small bird species out of its territories, though the degree of impact depends on habitat (Lowe et al. 2011; Grarock et al. 2012). In Singapore, mynas are hypothesized to be one of the factors leading to the decline of native hole-nesting Oriental Magpie Robin Copsychus saularis (Huong & Sodhi 1997 in Lim et al. 2003). In Singapore, the Common Myna is strongly associated with agricultural areas, while in urban areas its role has largely been replaced by the Javan Myna, a Javan-endemic species that was introduced to Singapore around 1924 (Yap et al. 2002), probably because the latter is more capable of exploiting ephemeral food sources, such as carrion and human refuse (Lim et al. 2003). In 2001 the population size of the Javan Myna was at least five times higher than that of the Common Myna, estimated to be over 122,000 and 200,000, respectively, although both species have declined since the early 1980s (Lim et al. 2003). The abundance of Common Mynas in Peninsular Malaysia is also said to have been severely reduced by competition from Javan Mynas (Davison & Aik 2010; Lum et al. 2010). During our observations of Common Mynas in Java, we did not notice Javan Mynas in Jakarta or Yogyakarta. In Cilegon on the other hand, at least 20 Javan Mynas were present, but no aggressive interactions between the two species were witnessed.  In conclusion the Common Myna appears to have established independent populations across the western half of Java. The observation of a bird collecting potential nest material in Yogyakarta suggests that there is a breeding population in that city. We urge local and visiting birdwatchers and ornithologists in Java to be vigilant for, and to report, new populations of Common Mynas. In addition, we believe regular monitoring of known populations would be useful in determining if these populations are growing in size, and whether they are having an impact on other species, particularly the endemic Javan Myna. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Banten Wildlife Photographer and Indonesia Wildlife Photography communities who helped us to share our photos of Common Mynas in Java. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their help in improving this paper. Finally, we are very grateful to Bas van Balen  for his critical review of this paper, and for alerting us to relevant literature.   26 Short Communication  Kukila 18 (1) 2014 References Basuni, S. & G. Setiyani. 1989. Studi perdagangan burung di Pasar Pramuka, Jakarta dan teknik penangkapan burung di alam. Media Konservasi 2 (2): 9–18.  Bell, K.J.  & R. Seibels. 1990. 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The first wild Common Mynas Acridotheres tristis in Java: colonists or aviary escapees?

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The first wild Common Mynas Acridotheres tristis in Java: colonists or aviary escapees?

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