The invasive common myna, native to South Asia and parts of Southeast Asia, is rapidly expanding its habitat across Istanbul and suppressing local bird populations.
The brown-feathered species with yellow legs and bare yellow eye skin from the Sturnidae family entered Türkiye in the early 2000s. Kept as pets for their intelligence and vocal mimicry, the birds escaped into the wild, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Vocational School of Forestry academic Dr. Ergün Bacak told state-run Anadolu Agency. Used for pest control in some countries, mynas adapt to city life by feeding on fruits, insects, cat food and human waste.
First observed near Kartal State Hospital, mynas surged into the hundreds at Gülhane Park. The species is now spreading through Yıldız Park, Emirgan Grove and Marmara University Maltepe Campus. The bird ranks among the world’s 100 worst invasives alongside starlings and red-vented bulbuls.
Aggressive mynas steal nests and food from sparrows, starlings and other birds, even eating their eggs, Bacak said. Combined with cats and modern architecture lacking nesting holes, they reduce sparrow numbers, altering Istanbul’s identity from gulls, shearwaters, storks and sparrows to exotic Alexandrine and rose-ringed parakeets.
Bacak called on the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, universities and NGOs to monitor the species, implement humane breeding controls and adopt European-style mandatory nesting spaces in new buildings.
