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Portrait of Bali myna

Nature · Birds

Bali myna

Critically Endangered · wild population in the low hundreds at most

Leucopsar rothschildi — Sturnidae

A snow-white starling with black wingtips and tail tip, a long drooping crest and a startling patch of bare cobalt-blue skin around the eye. It is found wild nowhere but the north-west corner of Bali, and is the faunal emblem of the Indonesian province. Trapping for the cage-bird trade reduced it to about 14 birds by 1994 and fewer than 10 by the mid-2000s; releases from captive stock have since rebuilt a small wild population.

How to spot them

  • ▸Pure white plumage with black tips to the wings and tail — the only white starling in Asia
  • ▸A broad, wispy crest raised over the crown and nape
  • ▸Bare bright blue skin around the eye, with grey legs and a yellowish bill
  • ▸A chattering, croaking, rattling song with much bill-snapping and head-bobbing in display
  • ▸Wild birds occur only in savanna woodland in Bali Barat National Park and adjacent Nusa Penida

How to know it

A snow-white starling with black wingtips and bare cobalt-blue skin around the eye

Bali myna, also called Rothschild's mynah or the Bali starling.

Wild nowhere on earth but the north-western corner of one Indonesian island, in an area of some 38 sq km

Bali myna, in Bali Barat National Park.

Its specific name honours the British banker-zoologist who described it in 1912

Leucopsar rothschildi — named for Walther Rothschild.

Trapping for the cage-bird trade cut it to about 14 birds by 1994 and fewer than ten by the mid-2000s

Bali myna — Critically Endangered.

In 1999 armed raiders stole almost the entire captive breeding stock from a national park centre

Bali myna — the 1999 theft of 39 birds.

The faunal emblem of its Indonesian province, and the only bird species endemic to that island

Bali myna — jalak Bali.

Thousands live in captivity worldwide, and licensed Indonesian breeders now release surplus birds to the wild

Bali myna — recovery depends entirely on captive stock.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Length about 25 cm; the generic name Leucopsar means 'white starling'
  • •Described in 1912 by Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, hence the alternative name Rothschild's mynah
  • •IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered; the wild population reached a low of about 14 birds in 1994 and fewer than 10 in the mid-2000s
  • •Recent counts put the free-living Bali population in the low hundreds after sustained releases; the species remains dependent on management and is still listed with a very small wild population
  • •The core wild range is roughly 38 sq km within Bali Barat National Park, with an introduced population on Nusa Penida
  • •In September 1999 armed men stole 39 birds from the park's captive-breeding centre, nearly ending the programme
  • •It is the faunal symbol of the province of Bali, where it is known as jalak Bali or curik Bali
  • •It nests in tree cavities, often old woodpecker or barbet holes, and takes readily to nest boxes
  • •Listed on CITES Appendix I; a 2025 non-detriment finding was published for the international trade in captive-bred birds

Drill it — 8 cards

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Sources