Feathers of Local Foreigners

These coos and screeches sing familiar into our ears and might even remind us of home, but these birds aren’t anywhere close to native. Here are the real roots of the javan myna and the rock pigeon

Story by: Siti Hani Binte Jumari

Javan mynas, the unspoken mascot of Singapore’s dominating bird species. You see them everywhere all the time and might even regard these neighbourhood birds with fond annoyance. Maybe you’ve even fed them. So it might surprise you to learn that these friendly, familiar, yellow-beaked, black birds are not, and have never been, a local species.

According to The Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (HBW Alive), they’re native to Indonesia – from the islands Java and Bali, to be specific – and Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum’s (LKCNHM) website, ‘The DNA of Singapore’, states that they were introduced into the Singapore ecosystem by the caged bird trade. They’ve thrived since then. Ironically, they’ve even dominated over the common myna, a bird species notorious for its invasive nature worldwide!

Slate grey feathers, two broad strokes of black across their wings, with the occasional iridescent green-purple neck – the rock pigeons are another common sight in Singapore. They’re also – you guessed it – not native. The DNA of Singapore notes that these birds are thought to be escape birds that were meant to be sold for food. They were then kept in a menagerie at the Singapore Botanic Gardens in 1880.

Though originating from Europe, North Africa and southwestern Asia, Singapore’s urban lifestyle hasn’t deterred them in the slightest. In place of cliff ledges, they’ve adjusted to the edges of city buildings and those little spaces beneath MRT tracks. Not exactly a pest, but it’s interesting that we might not know our bird neighbours as well as we might think.