I was driving home along Hougang avenue 7 one day and this little commotion on the road divider caught my attention as I was waiting at a traffic light junction.
It was a cluster of mynahs (members of the starling family) chirping away on the grass lawn of the divider. On closer observation, there were 2 birds in the center engaging in a beak fight. One of them was obviously the tougher fellow as it was gaining on the other one. Were these two fellas fighting over a female mate or territory? It was quite a spectacle of birdie aggression and tension indeed.
The other mynahs were, well, watching on. My goodness, as the fight progressed on, more and more mynahs landed and fluttered about the perimeter of the duel. There were at least 10-15 avian onlookers. They seemed to be speculating the outcome of the fight and cheering on or jeering at the fighters. What busy bodies and so like many of us! Did they pick up this behavior from living in close proximity to humans?
I remember one of my zoology lecturers mentioned about mynahs in road kills. He said that they were usually so engrossed in their quarrels that made them oblivious to any on-coming danger such as approaching vehicles.
Yang might tell you another human behaviour we saw in another mynah the other day near his parents’ place. :)
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