Sturnia pagodarum
Silhouette: Rafael Maia · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The brahminy starling or brahminy myna (Sturnia pagodarum) is a member of the starling family of birds. It is usually seen in pairs or small flocks in open habitats on the plains of the Indian subcontinent. The brahminy starling was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the thrushes in the genus Turdus and coined the binomial name Turdus pagodarum. The specific epithet pagodarum is Modern Latin meaning "of the temples" or "of the pagodas". Gmelin based his account on the "Le Martin Brame" that had been described in 1782 by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in his book Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine. Sonnerat mentioned that the bird was found on the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts of India.
The brahminy starling was formerly placed in the genus Sturnus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008 found that the genus was polyphyletic. In the reoganization to create monotypic genera, the brahminy starling was one of five starlings moved to the resurrected genus Sturnia that had been introduced in 1837 by René Lesson. The species... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 10 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 13 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 14 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 15 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walsrode World Bird Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Nehru Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Chester Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 5 | Rainforest Wild Asia | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 6 | Santillana Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Volière | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brahminy Starling sighting in Chitwan National Park on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 235th most-seen of the 367 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brahminy Starling in Chitwan National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to May, the lowest months. That is one of Chitwan National Park's wettest months, with about 400 mm of rain against almost none in November.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brahminy Starling sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
13th of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Brahminy Starling sightings, Chitwan National Park ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in Keoladeo National Park (India, about 70%), Mudumalai National Park (India, about 60%) and Bandipur National Park (India, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brahminy Starling is recorded against all the birds logged in Chitwan National Park (31 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
