# Acridotheres

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***Acridotheres*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [starlings](/source/Starling), the "typical" **[mynas](/source/Myna)**, which are tropical members of the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) Sturnidae.

## Taxonomy

The genus *Acridotheres* was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist [Louis Vieillot](/source/Louis_Pierre_Vieillot).[2] The [type species](/source/Type_species) was subsequently designated as *Paradisea tristis* [Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), the [common myna](/source/Common_myna).[3] The name *Acridotheres* combines the [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) *akridos* meaning "locust" with *-thēras* meaning "-hunter".[4]

Despite being called "mynas", species in the genus *Acridotheres* are more closely related to a group of mainly terrestrial starlings from [Eurasia](/source/Eurasia), such as the [common starling](/source/Common_starling), and also African ones like the *[Lamprotornis](/source/Lamprotornis)* glossy-starlings. Among these, they are among the larger and duller species; they seem to be one of the major groups to [evolve](/source/Evolution) most recently. Apparently, they all arose from ancestors which arrived from [Central Asia](/source/Central_Asia) and adapted to more [humid](/source/Humid) conditions in the [Tropics](/source/Tropics). They presumably were isolated in about their current range when the [evolutionary radiation](/source/Evolutionary_radiation) to which they belonged - including the [wattled starling](/source/Wattled_starling) and the *[Sturnia](/source/Sturnia)* species - was fragmented by [desertification](/source/Desertification) at the start of the [Early Pliocene](/source/Early_Pliocene), as Earth turned towards the [last ice age](/source/Quaternary_glaciation) 5 million years ago.

## Distribution

This genus has representatives in tropical southern [Asia](/source/Asia) from [Iran](/source/Iran) east to southern [China](/source/China) and [Indonesia](/source/Indonesia). Two species have been introduced widely elsewhere. The common myna has been introduced to [South Africa](/source/South_Africa), [Israel](/source/Israel), [Hawaii](/source/Hawaii), [North America](/source/North_America), [Australia](/source/Australia) and [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand), and the crested myna to the [Vancouver](/source/Vancouver) region of [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia).

## Description

The *Acridotheres* mynas are generally dark or dull birds with fluted calls like most starlings; the sexes are similar. They walk and hop, and may share adaptations along with the *Sturnus* starlings that have modifications to the skull and its muscles for open bill probing or prying.[5] They resemble the hill mynas (*[Gracula](/source/Gracula)*) with which they often co-occur, in having large white or buff wing patches which are obvious in flight and in some also naked areas on the head, but differ in that only the head plumage is glossy, and the underparts tend to be paler. The naked head patches are different in arrangement. *Acridotheres* mynas are also much more terrestrial than *Gracula*.

Several species have frontal crests which become covered with pollen when the birds take nectar from flowers, and may play a role in pollination.

## Behaviour

The *Acridotheres* mynas have bowing courtship displays and lay unmarked pale blue eggs, whereas *Gracula* has no visual display.

Like most starlings, the *Acridotheres* mynas are fairly [omnivorous](/source/Omnivore), eating [fruit](/source/Fruit), [nectar](/source/Nectar) and [insects](/source/Insect).

### Species

The [cladogram](/source/Cladogram) below showing the relationships of the species within the genus is based on a [molecular phylogenetic](/source/Molecular_phylogenetic) study published in 2008. The [Burmese myna](/source/Burmese_myna) (*Acridotheres burmannicus*) was not included in the study.[5]

## Species

The genus contains 11 species:[6]

- [Collared myna](/source/Collared_myna), *Acridotheres albocinctus* – northeast India to central south China
- [Burmese myna](/source/Burmese_myna), *Acridotheres burmannicus* – Myanmar and southwest China
- [Pale-bellied myna](/source/Pale-bellied_myna), *Acridotheres cinereus* – south [Sulawesi](/source/Sulawesi)
- [Crested myna](/source/Crested_myna), *Acridotheres cristatellus* – south China to southeast Asia
- [Jungle myna](/source/Jungle_myna), *Acridotheres fuscus* – widespread from India to the [Malay Peninsula](/source/Malay_Peninsula)
- [Bank myna](/source/Bank_myna), *Acridotheres ginginianus* – Pakistan, India and Bangladesh
- [Great myna](/source/Great_myna), *Acridotheres grandis* – northeast India through southeast Asia
- [Javan myna](/source/Javan_myna), *Acridotheres javanicus* – [Java](/source/Java) and [Bali](/source/Bali) (introduced widely elsewhere)
- [Vinous-breasted myna](/source/Vinous-breasted_myna), *Acridotheres leucocephalus* – Thailand to Vietnam
- [Black-winged myna](/source/Black-winged_myna), *Acridotheres melanopterus* – [Java](/source/Java) and [Bali](/source/Bali)
- [Common myna](/source/Common_myna), *Acridotheres tristis* – widely distributed in southern Asia

## References

1. ["Sturnidae"](https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=181). *aviansystematics.org*. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.

1. Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1816). [*Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire*](http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9745205x/f48.image) (in French). Paris: Deterville/self. p. 42.

1. [*Check-list of birds of the world*](https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485485). Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. 1962. p. 112.

1. Jobling, James A. ["Acridotheres"](https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Acridotheres). *The Key to Scientific Names*. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 5 October 2025.

1. Zuccon, D.; Pasquet, E.; Ericson, P. G. P. (2008). ["Phylogenetic relationships among Palearctic–Oriental starlings and mynas (genera Sturnus and Acridotheres : Sturnidae)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170808143923/http://www.nrm.se/download/18.251938811dab4a5dcc8000180/1367705200731/Zuccon+et+al+Sturnus+ZSC+2008.pdf). *Zoologica Scripta*. **37** (5): 469–481. [doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00339.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00339.x). [S2CID 56403448](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:56403448). Archived from [the original](http://www.nrm.se/download/18.251938811dab4a5dcc8000180/1367705200731/Zuccon+et+al+Sturnus+ZSC+2008.pdf) on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2018-10-18.

1. ["Nuthatches, Wallcreeper, treecreepers, mockingbirds, starlings, oxpeckers"](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/nuthatch/). *IOC World Bird List Version 15.1*. International Ornithologists' Union. February 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2025.

- Feare, Chris & Craig, Adrian (1999): *Starlings and Mynas*. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-7136-3961-X
- Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol, Inskipp, Tim & Byers, Clive (1999): *Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives*. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. ISBN 0-691-04910-6
- Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). *[Zool. Scripta](/source/Zoologica_Scripta)* **35**(2): 149–186. [doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00221.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00221.x) (HTML abstract)
- Zuccon, Dario; Cibois, Anne; Pasquet, Eric & Ericson, Per G.P. (2006): Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data reveal the major lineages of starlings, mynas and related taxa. *Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution* **41**(2): 333–344. [doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.007](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.007) (HTML abstract)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Acridotheres](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acridotheres) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acridotheres?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.