- BEAUTIFUL feather of white and blue makes the Bali starling an idol to visitors.
- Meanwhile, Bali government has adopted and declared it as fauna icon of the Bali Province.
Bali starling is said to be the only endemic bird in Bali. This beautifully-feathered bird was set to be the fauna mascot of the Bali Province in 1991. Its clean white and blue feathers around the eyelids make it look so elegant and beautiful.
Bali starling belongs to the type of singing birds. Its body’s length reaches approximately 25 cm and comes from the Sturnidae. It is only found in the western forests of the Island of Bali and is an endemic animal in Indonesia.
This bird was first discovered in 1910. Scientific name of the Bali Starling bird or Bali myna is Leucopsar rothschildi, named after the British animal expert Walter Rothschild. He was the first person to describe the characteristics of this species to the world of knowledge in 1912.
Uniquely, the male bird has a more beautiful shape, a crest on its head with several strands of pure white feathers and a larger, long-shaped male head. In addition, male crest is longer, while female crest is relatively shorter. The male bird’s body is bigger and manly, while the female is slimmer.
According to Thompson and Brown (2001), the marriage process of this bird of Bali in nature at the age of two years and the productive period of Bali starlings in producing offspring for males to the age of 17 years and for females until the age of 12 years.
In its natural habitat Bali starlings including species of birds that like to fly in groups. In the mating season which takes place between September and December they fly in pairs while looking for food. These animals make nests in tree holes at a height of 2.5 meters to 7 m from the ground.
While breeding in captivity occurs throughout the year. Usually birds that have laid their eggs and hatched their offspring for 14 days will lay their eggs again after they are around 4-5 weeks old or about two months’ time.
Bali starling likes mangrove forest habitat, swamp forest, lowland season forest and savanna area. The natural distribution of starlings in Bali is only found in the West Bali National Park (TNBB) and surrounding areas such as Prapat Agung, Batu Licin, and Brumbun Bay and Nusa Penida.
In daily life, Bali starlings perform movements with a range varying from 3 to 10 km according to the state of their environment. Although in Bali starlings are the wildest birds, in their activities they always communicate with their partners. It likes cleanliness and likes playing water to cleanse the body. To dry its body, it bites his fur one by one. Drying the fur is then also aided by basking in the sun and perches on a tree branch.
To support its regeneration, a number of community groups and nature conservation foundations across the island under supervision of Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) breed this Bali starling. With this effort, they successfully breed it and then increase the population in nature. So, this beautiful bird can save from extinction.
Other than at the West Bali National Park and Nusa Penida, this bird of Bali can also be encountered at Bali Bird Park Bali and Bali Zoo.
