Size: Length; 25cm. Weight; 80-90g.

Habitat and Distribution: Forests and shrubs only in the Bali Barat National Park in the north-west of Bali.

Age: Over 15 years.

Groups and Breeding: Previously, this bird lived in flocks of up to 60 birds becoming aggressive and forming territorial pairs during the rainy season. Nest building takes several days and both male and females participate. The female then lays 3 to 4 pale blue eggs which both parents incubate, the eggs hatch after 14 days. Newly hatched chicks are completely helpless and reliant on their parents for food and warmth. They fledge after 21-28 days.

Diet: Fruit, insects and other invertebrates and occasionally small reptiles.

• Birdlife International estimated that in 2005 the wild population of the Bali starling was just 24 individuals (up from 6 in 2001) with around 1,000 in captivity. It has been driven to near extinction by the loss of its habitat to agriculture and human housing and also the extremely high prices it fetches on the bird collectors market.
• This species has been protected in the wild since 1970 under Indonesian law and even physically by armed guards. A number of attempts have been made to reintroduce captive bred individuals to the wild, but despite this, numbers continue to fall and in 1999 armed robbers stole 39 individuals waiting re-release. Many conservationists believe that this bird is now sadly extinct in the wild.
• A male will woo the female by raising his head crest, bobbing his head and singing a variety of songs.
• The Bali Starling was only described in 1912 by Walter Rothschild, who gave this bird its alternative name Rothschild’s Mynah.
• It was once seen as a status symbol to have one of these birds as a pet.
• In 1991 the Bali Starling was designated the fauna symbol of Bali.