Animal field guide
Finch-billed Myna
Scissirostrum dubium
Finch-billed Myna teaches Colony Network: hundreds of birds can turn separate tree holes into one shared neighbourhood.
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Get AnimalDexFinch-billed Myna at a glance
Bird · Native range keys: sulawesi · Relatively common
Known for: Thick orange-red bill with a distinctly heavy, Orange-red legs and feet, Dark grey to blackish body plumage, Noticeably paler rump and lower back
Understand the animal
Understand the Finch-billed Myna
Factual biology first: what this animal is like, where it lives, how it survives, and why those traits exist.
01
Introduction to Finch-billed Myna
Finch-billed Myna teaches Colony Network: hundreds of birds can turn separate tree holes into one shared neighbourhood.
How to identify a Finch-billed Myna
- Thick orange-red bill with a distinctly heavy finch-like shape
- Orange-red legs and feet
- Dark grey to blackish body plumage
- Noticeably paler rump and lower back
- Relatively short tail
- Compact starling body shape
- No yellow facial wattles like a Common Hill Myna
Why Finch-billed Myna are interesting
- Scissirostrum dubium is the only species in the genus Scissirostrum.
- It is endemic to Sulawesi in Indonesia.
- The species is strongly social and frequently occurs in flocks.
- Its unusually thick bill gives rise to both Finch-billed Myna and Grosbeak Starling as English names.
- Colonies use cavities excavated or occupied in dead and decaying trees.
- Several pairs may breed in the same tree or group of trees.
02
Adaptations and biological abilities
03
Why does Finch-billed Myna behave this way?
- Thick orange-red bill with a distinctly heavy finch-like shape
- Orange-red legs and feet
- Dark grey to blackish body plumage
- Noticeably paler rump and lower back
- Relatively short tail
- Compact starling body shape
- No yellow facial wattles like a Common Hill Myna
Diurnal. Birds forage and move in groups during daylight and gather at sheltered trees or communal areas to rest.
04
Why Native range keys: sulawesi?
Habitat: Native range keys: sulawesi, indonesia. Finch-billed Mynas inhabit open woodland, forest edges and other tree-rich habitats on Sulawesi. Colony Network works because suitable nesting trees concentrate many birds into the same neighbourhood instead of distributing every pair across a separate territory.
Native range: Native range keys: sulawesi, indonesia. Finch-billed Mynas inhabit open woodland, forest edges and other tree-rich habitats on Sulawesi. Colony Network works because suitable nesting trees concentrate many birds into the same neighbourhood instead of distributing every pair across a separate territory.
05
Why this diet?
Fruit and small invertebrates form important parts of the diet. Flocks can move together through feeding areas, allowing individuals to exploit resources as part of a larger mobile group.
06
Activity, rest, and lifespan
Diurnal. Birds forage and move in groups during daylight and gather at sheltered trees or communal areas to rest.
A precise wild lifespan is not well enough standardized for AnimalDex to present one exact number confidently.
07
Finch-billed Myna reproduction
Pairs nest in cavities, often in dead tree trunks, with many pairs able to use the same colony site. Both parents contribute to raising young.
Males and females are broadly similar in appearance and are not reliably separated by an ordinary phone photograph.
08
Predators, threats, and defense
Raptors and other predators can take adults or young. Flocking and colonial nesting increase the number of eyes capable of detecting danger even though they do not remove predation risk.
09
Conservation and rarity
Rarity: Relatively common · 42/100. AnimalDex canonical rarity score: 42/100, maintained by the live indexed species profile.
- Observe from a respectful distance and avoid changing the animal's behavior.
- Do not block feeding, shelter, nesting, or travel routes.
- Use a live camera capture without handling or staging wildlife.
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Ask about its biology, behavior, abilities, survival strategy, symbolism, or what its strategy can teach you. Answers stay grounded in this species page.
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Compare
Compare the Finch-billed Myna
Where to find them
Where to find Finch-billed Myna
To find Finch-billed Myna in the wild, focus on the exact habitat patches that match its body design and daily behavior, not just the broad country where it exists. You usually do better by working one good piece of habitat inside native range keys: sulawesi, indonesia. Finch-billed Mynas inhabit open woodland, forest edges and other tree-rich habitats on Sulawesi. Colony Network works because suitable nesting trees concentrate many birds into the same neighbourhood instead of distributing every pair across a separate territory. than by covering too much ground.
- Forest edge, canopy gaps, fruiting trees, or shaded trails where cover and food meet
- Burrow systems, sandy banks, fallen logs, or ground with clear den entrances
- Protected habitat blocks within native range keys: sulawesi, indonesia. Finch-billed Mynas inhabit open woodland, forest edges and other tree-rich habitats on Sulawesi. Colony Network works because suitable nesting trees concentrate many birds into the same neighbourhood instead of distributing every pair across a separate territory.
Animal field guide
Finch-billed Myna
Finch-billed Myna teaches Colony Network: hundreds of birds can turn separate tree holes into one shared neighbourhood.
Native range
Location unknown
AnimalDex does not have a mapped native range region for this profile yet.
AnimalDex stats
Dominance
26
Speed
42
Size
13
Intelligence
34
Rarity
42%
Total
157
Size scale
Scientific name
Scissirostrum dubium
Category
Bird
Habitat
Native range keys: sulawesi, indonesia. Finch-billed Mynas inhabit open woodland, forest edges and other tree-rich habitats on Sulawesi. Colony Network works because suitable nesting trees concentrate many birds into the same neighbourhood instead of distributing every pair across a separate territory.
Rarity
Relatively common · 42/100
Native range
Native range keys: sulawesi, indonesia. Finch-billed Mynas inhabit open woodland, forest edges and other tree-rich habitats on Sulawesi. Colony Network works because suitable nesting trees concentrate many birds into the same neighbourhood instead of distributing every pair across a separate territory.
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