A song worth saving: helping ultra-rare Bali mynas

Zoo offers safe home as poaching threatens to silence endangered songbird forever

The Oregon Zoo is home to many endangered species, but few as rare as the striking snow-white songbird who just moved in at the zoo's Vollum Aviary.

Bali mynas, also known as Bali starlings, had almost vanished by 2001, with a wild population of just six. Today, fewer than 100 adults are estimated to live in their native habitat, the Indonesian island of Bali. They are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The Bali myna now flitting around the zoo aviary, a female, arrived here in November 2023 on a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan for the birds - a cooperative program among accredited zoos that helps create a genetically diverse, self-sustaining population to guarantee the species' long-term future.

Until recently, she lived behind the scenes at the zoo's Avian Reproduction Center with an older male Bali myna. In 2024, the pair successfully raised a chick (now living at the Tulsa Zoo) - but the male experienced a number of age-related setbacks and passed away this summer. Care staff relocated the female to the zoo's Vollum Aviary so she could be around other birds - giving guests a chance to connect with one of the world's rarest species.

"Caring for a Bali myna here is such an amazing opportunity to raise awareness for this species and the threats it is facing," said Nicole LaGreco, who oversees the Oregon Zoo's bird population. "Not long ago, this bird was all but extinct in the wild."

The Bali myna's habitat is vanishing, which makes breeding difficult. Yet poaching poses an even greater threat. Poachers hunt them for an illegal market in which rare songbirds are captured and sold as pets.

The Bali myna is an important national symbol of Bali and the island's official bird. They are highly prized as pets, which increases their value to poachers.

"The songbird trade is why this species is in such bad shape from a conservation standpoint," LaGreco said. "Like many wild animals that wind up in the illegal pet trade, Bali mynas have complex care needs that can only be met by people with specialized training at licensed and properly equipped facilities."

Not only is the buying and selling of many wild animals illegal but the practice can lead to harmful outcomes for both animals and humans. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Wildlife Trafficking Alliance works in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare to prevent certain wild animals from becoming pets. Learn more at NotAPet.net.

In Oregon, people can report suspected illegal animal sales by calling the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division hotline: 800-452-7888.