Scissirostrum dubium
Silhouette: Rafael Maia · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The grosbeak starling (Scissirostrum dubium), also known as the grosbeak myna, finch-billed myna, or scissor-billed starling, is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is monotypic in the genus Scissirostrum. It is endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia, where its natural habitat is tropical lowland, and sometimes subtropical montane, lightly wooded forest areas and wetlands. It is threatened in the wild by habitat loss, and by birds being captured for the cagebird trade.
This species nests in colonies, which frequently contain hundreds of pairs. Its nests are bored in rotting or dying tree trunks in woodpecker style. It eats fruit, insects, and grain. Grosbeak starlings are highly vocal, at their colonies and in feeding flocks.
The grosbeak starling was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Lanius dubium. New populations, derived from escaped cagebirds, have been found breeding in Kalimantan in Borneo, and in Java.
Media related to Scissirostrum dubium at Wikimedia Commons Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Basel Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 3 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 5 | Walsrode World Bird Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Chester Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 9 | Burgers' Ocean | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 10 | Royal Burgers' Zoo | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 11 | Bristol Zoo Project | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 12 | Aquarama Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 13 | Bali Bird Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 14 | National Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Finch-billed Myna sighting in Tangkoko Nature Reserve on a given day, based on 53 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 7th most-seen of the 138 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and November
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Finch-billed Myna in Tangkoko Nature Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in March, the lowest month.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Finch-billed Myna sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Tangkoko Nature Reserve, in our data
Tangkoko Nature Reserve is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Finch-billed Myna sightings: about 50% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Sturnidae
The closest relatives of the Finch-billed Myna that you can see in Tangkoko Nature Reserve (family Sturnidae, Starlings) are White-necked Myna (about 50%) and Sulawesi Myna (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Finch-billed Myna is recorded against all the birds logged in Tangkoko Nature Reserve (53 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.
