Mynah/Raven/Crow

[QuackQuack]

What do we know about keeping corvids and/or mynah birds? I recently encountered a mynah and am curious about them and their needs. Don't worry - no one is running out to get one! They just seem so smart as do crows and ravens which I know some people keep and have much success with teaching speech.

 

[MikeyTN]

The only thing with them is messy messy messy! But my Black Lory is no different....lol

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Ravens are awesome, but need huge cages/aviary. They also have a surprisingly painful bite because they grab you with the tip of their beak and twist XD it happened to me and i even have a little scar lol.

I've considered getting a African raven one day.

 

[mcw009]

Yea, the crows I take care of (American Crows) are wayyyy messier than my parrots. The juvenile invariably makes "soup" by using a toy to scoop water from his water dish into his food dish. He's made me bleed by pecking me, too. Granted, this isn't a pet crow, but he is tame and has a small vocabulary. He's hilarious and smart as a whip but I personally wouldn't have one if I couldn't keep it in an outside aviary.

 

[IcyWolf]

I know someone that has a crow(indoors) but other than that I know nothing about their needs in captivity since, as far as I know, they are illegal to keep here. I was researching the african species for awhile but they are quite expensive

 

[ann]

they're really cool but i heard mynas can be very damanding :O. i think its amazing how smart crows are though!

 

[MikeyTN]

Mynahs aren't demanding, I grew up around them. They're really kewl birds! Tried to locate one but it's shipping only and I don't do shipping birds....

 

[PetoftheDay]

I once knew a family with many animals, and the husband had a Myna bird. It was REALLY his bird, but it took great delight in torturing the family's dog. It could exactly mimic Bernice's voice (the mom) and would say "Bad Dog, Baron! Bad Dog!" when the poor thing was napping nicely in the dining room, and Baron would get up and look around and try to figure out what he had done wrong. Baron, by the way, was 200+ pound Saint Bernard!

 

[BillsBirds]

I had a Mynah named "Jake". He was a Greater Hill Mynah. But, they are fruit & insect eaters, so their poop is some of the grossest I ever had to clean. For feeding them, there is Mynah & Softbill pellets, but it's best to give them occasional mealworms or crickets. He was a great mimic, and loved to go outside on my shoulder. His beak could give a nasty pointy peck. And he loved to steal anything shiny, and bring it back to his cage. More than once, my lost keys were in his water bowl. Also, a friend had a Crow, named "O'Toole". What a comedian. He talked, did tricks, and liked to hang upside down. He also loved water, bathing & splashing whenever he could. O'Toole also was a great thief, and would hide keys, coins, and other shiny things. They all can be great pets. Very intelligent, pretty, and good talkers. But, they all need a large cage, and plenty of exercise.

 

[Joeyx]

mynahs are veryyy common in my country. you see them all around at parks and stuff,
and there are a lot of breeders. they are very intelligent birds and can start imitating you
easily. the only downside in my opinion is their poop. it could get really messy. they are
also messy eaters but not thaaat messy.

i've had a crow before too, and while i think they're the most intelligent of birds, they are
also very messy. they poop every 2 seconds (LOL) and splatter their food all over the cage,
or room. they can also talk pretty clearly but i haven't heard of any crows that have a very
large vocabulary. only a few clear words.

 

[Ria]

Mynahs are very big fruit eaters, so their poop is very very squirty and messy. It's probably similar to the poop my rescued gull did, it stained everything it touched practically!
But Mynah's are cuute and amazing talkers.

 

[Joeyx]

mynahs actually eat anything, lol. they're scavengers, so anything goes for them. but of
course, an owner would be responsible and feed them a healthy diet!

 

[mcw009]

I know someone that has a crow(indoors) but other than that I know nothing about their needs in captivity since, as far as I know, they are illegal to keep here. I was researching the african species for awhile but they are quite expensive

Well, the crow I deal with gets 2 meals a day consisting of a variety of stuff including softbill diet, fruit, veggies, a couple teaspoons of mealworms, a couple waxworms, and grit. It's an AZA accredited museum so they presumably know what they're doing. He gets daily training sessions with handlers, and has a lot of toys, a big water bowl he loves to bathe in that obviously needs changing at least daily... so really it's not all that much different than a parrot. The diet's the main thing, and the biggest difference there is swapping out hookbill pellets for softbill.
But, I do think it's illegal to keep them as pets without special licensing.

 

[ann]

Mynahs aren't demanding, I grew up around them. They're really kewl birds! Tried to locate one but it's shipping only and I don't do shipping birds....

thats cool it must have been a fun pet to have! i heard they are demanding from a website a while ago, i guess it was the odd bird out or how he raised it. you on the other hand seem to have such great birds, you must have enjoyed them allot, i think they are really unique little guys!

 

[PortaPerch]

There was an article in the LATimes Monday about a Ravens' nest high up in the old Court building in downtown L.A. They were going to clean the exterior of the building, which would have destroyed the nest and babies, supposedly because they didn't know the nest was there. A bird watcher worker in another skyrise across the street reported it.

Ironically, the Raven nest was on the building where such notables as Marilyn Monroe and Robert F. Kennedy were autopsied.

The article said there is a $10K fine for destroying bird nests. Guess I could retrieve the article, but it's catching poop. The Sunday Times is a better deal for $1.50 than the weekday for $1, because it has so much more catch paper.

 

[raleej337]

If I am going to have another bird it will be a mynah. My uncle used to have one and my sister too. I like the way they talk.