The starling, also known as the robin, is a bird of the order Starlingidae and is distributed in the southern provinces of my country. Starlings are easy to raise and are good at imitating human speech or other sounds, making them deeply loved by people.
1. Appearance characteristics
The myna is about 25cm long. Its feathers are black and shiny. There is a bunch of standing, crown-shaped feathers on its forehead. There are white feather spots on its wings. When flying, It is more obvious that it looks like a figure eight from below, hence the name starling. The tail feathers have white tips, and the bill and feet are yellow. Male and female starlings are of the same color. You can distinguish between male and female mainly by listening to their calls. Those with beautiful and exciting calls are male birds, while those with low and unpleasant calls are female birds.
2 Living habits
Wild mynas live in mountains, forests, plains, and villages. They live in pairs during the breeding season and move in small groups during the non-breeding period. They gather on high slopes in the early morning and make a lot of noise. Then they dispersed; on the second day, they gathered first and then dispersed, and this happened every day. Starlings are omnivorous birds and eat insects most of the time. They also like to eat fruits, vegetables and plant seeds. They build nests and breed from April to July every year. The nests are located in tree holes, room gaps, waste chimneys, etc. They lay 2 to 3 clutches of eggs every year, with 5 to 6 eggs in each clutch. The eggshells are jade blue.
3 Feeding and management
Domestic starlings use tall starling cages and raise more male birds. The best effect is to start raising the young birds. The feed for starlings is preferably eggs and rice. The preparation method of egg rice is: put the rice into the pot, stir-fry over low heat until it is yellow but not burnt, pour it into a basin, mix the stirred raw egg liquid into the rice while it is hot, stir well, and break it after cooling. Just rub it into pieces. Generally, 4 to 6 eggs are added per kilogram of rice, and appropriate amounts of ants, skin worms, lean pork shreds, tender vegetables, bananas, etc. are added. Starlings have strong digestive power and a large appetite.
Starlings like water baths and can often sing while bathing in water. They can sing once a day or every other day in summer. The number of baths should be reduced appropriately in spring and autumn, and bathing is rare in winter. When taking a water bath, the cage is often placed in a basin, and clean water is added into the basin. The water depth is approximately to the upper joint of the starling's metatarsal bone, and the water temperature should not be too low.
Mynas are born in the south and are naturally afraid of cold. Therefore, the birdcage must have a cage cover and be hung indoors at night. It cannot be hung in a passage with cold wind. In winter, you must always keep warm and let the starlings bask in the sun on sunny days. sun.
3 Training
Generally, training begins with young birds, preferably after the first time they change their feathers.
3.1 Tongue twisting: The tongue twisting must be performed before training the myna. The method of "tongue twisting" is: two people operate it, one person holds the bird's body in place, and the other person holds the bird's head with one hand and holds it open. Dip some incense ash on the bird's beak, the index finger and thumb of the other hand, pinch the tip of the bird's tongue and twist it back and forth until the hard shell on the tongue falls off. The "tongue twisting" movement should be gentle and gentle. After "twisting the tongue", put it back into the original cage and feed soft steamed egg rice (processing method: after washing and draining the rice, add 4 to 8 eggs per kilogram, mix well, steam over high heat, and rub it into pieces while it is hot) , cool it thoroughly. Steamed eggs and rice are easy to spoil, so only a small amount can be processed at a time). After 2 weeks, use the above method to "twist" once, twist off the extremely thin and incomplete film, and keep it for another 2 to 3 days. Weekly teaching can be done.
3.2 Learning human language: Teach the myna to learn human language after twisting the tongue. When training mynas to learn human language, you should choose a secluded place and do it on an empty stomach in the morning and evening. When training, you must first cultivate the relationship between birds and people, and spend more time with birds. The training content should be from simple to complex. Simple words such as "hello" and "goodbye" should be taught first, and longer sentences can be taught later. Food must be used as bait during training; trainers must speak clearly and pronounce words accurately and coherently. When a myna learns human language, its pronunciation and pronunciation cannot be as clear as a human's. Therefore, during training, the requirements for its pronunciation cannot be strict. Once it learns the first sentence, it will become easier in the future. If you use a myna who can already speak human language to teach, the effect will be better. After the myna learns human language, people should often tease it with its teachings to consolidate its achievements. After all, starlings are animals and are slow to learn human language. Trainers must be meticulous and patient, and avoid being rough, otherwise all efforts will be wasted.
3.3 Flying: After being trained to fly, the myna can obey the owner's commands or gestures. Wherever the owner goes, it will fly with it. The first step of release training is to train the myna to enter and get into the cage (putting on and off the cage when raising). The method is to first put no feed in the cage to make it hungry, and then put the feed on the bamboo slices and extend it into the cage to feed. After the bird gets used to this feeding method, slowly move to the cage door to feed, let the bird stand at the cage door, extend the feeding bamboo piece from the back of the cage, make the bird eat with its head toward the inside of the cage and its tail toward the outside of the cage. The action consolidates for a few days. The second step is to release the bird in a closed room. After letting it fly for a period of time, move the cage closer to the bird, and then insert the bamboo piece into the cage from behind to attract food and make it jump back into the cage. After 1 to 2 days, there is no need to move the cage closer to the bird, and it will be able to fly high and far away. The release time for starlings should not be too long, usually 12 to 15 minutes, and they should not be fed too full when released.