Sturnidae Survey (Starlings and mynahs)
Send completed forms to DAK African Aviary Birds, POB 10,000, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830


Our objective is to determine the factors that contribute to the successful management and breeding of captive starlings and mynahs. After compilation of the data you will be sent a copy of the results.
Your name _____________________________Your Institution and Position_______________________________
Contact Numbers: Telephone____________________Fax___________________Email______________________
Species name _________________________ Scientific name______________________________
ISIS# Male ______________ Female _______________
Defining your pair: For this survey a pair describes any two birds that have been together for 6 months or more.
(If your birds are housed as a flock or in an unusual combination i.e.: same sex group, please answer all of the questions which pertain to them, such as diet fed, nest building behavior, courtship behavior, etc.)
What is the manner in which your pair/birds were reared: Male             Female
                                                               Wild caught                  ____              ____
                                                               Captive parent reared ____              ____
                                                               Hand reared                  ____              ____
A. What is the age of your birds?                                           ____              ____

1. Accommodations (If you have already described the same enclosure for another pair please indicate which other pair and skip this section.  Same enclosure as ____________________________ )
                           A. Are these birds held in an off exhibit holding/breeding area? Yes ___ No ___
                           B. Where are these birds housed? Indoors ___ Outdoors ___
C. What are the dimensions, in feet, of your sturnidae enclosure? Length____ Width____ Height____
D. What is the shape of the enclosure?
                           Circular ___ Square ___ Irregular ___
                           Rectangular____ Oval_____ Other (describe)
E. What is the enclosure made of? (Check all that apply)
Mesh ___ Glass ___ Solid walls with windows ___
Solid walls with mesh windows ___Other (describe) _____________________________
                           F. Is the enclosure a habitat in which the guests walk through? Yes ___ No ___

                                        G. What is the lighting like in your guest viewing area? (Example: Is viewing similar to the "theater" effect ?) Darkened                                                 indoor ___ Medium/typical indoor light ___ Outdoor light ___ N/A ____

                                        H. If you are able, please draw a rough sketch of the enclosure on page 5 or, send photos or diagrams along with
                                             your completed survey.

I. Does the enclosure include a water feature? (Check all that apply)
Fountain ____ Misting system ____ Water bowl ____
Waterfall ____ Pond ____ Bathing bowl____
Other (describe) ________________________________________________________

                                        J. Does any form of night light exist in your aviary? No__ Yes (describe)_______________________
                                        K. How is your enclosure planted? (Planted defined: Planted describes how heavily foliated your aviary may be. A                                                habitat in which the floor is low shrubbery or grass would be described as lightly planted. One in which the birds                                                flight space is 25-50% foliated would be moderately. And a habitat with 50% or more of the flight space foliated                                                 would be considered densely).

                                              Lightly planted ___ Moderately planted ___ Densely planted ___

                          L. What kind of habitat does your enclosure most resemble?
Forest ___ Grassland/plain ___ Savannah/sparsely treed ___
Desert ___ Beach ___ Other (describe) ___________________
M. If any, list the other bird species which share the same aviary as these sturnidae?
__________________________________________________________________________________
2. Pair Behavior
A. In which area do the birds spend the greatest portion of their day?
On ground ___ Lower canopy ___ Mid canopy ___ Upper canopy ___
                          B. What type of perching is used most often by the birds?
                                Living shrubs and trees ___ Keeper installed perching ___ Both equally ___
C. How often do your sturnidae come to the ground (Check all that apply)
    Never ___ Only when fed on the ground ___ Often, to forage for nesting material, etc. ___
    To drink ___ To collect nesting material ___ Other (describe) __________________________
D. How would you describe your bird’s pair bond?
Loose ___ Strong __ No signs of pair bond ___ Nonexistent ___
E. If hand reared how imprinted do your birds behave?
Will take food from hand ___ Approach you and seek attention ___
Have little fear of humans but do not approach ___ Show no interest in humans ___
F. Do you observe aggression between your pair? Yes ___ No ___ If yes please describe ________
________________________________________________________________________________
G. How often do you see your sturnidae bathing?
Never ___ Seldom ___ Often ___ Daily ___
H. Do your birds perform any stereotypic behaviors? Yes ___ No ____
If yes, describe behavior _________________________________________________________
I. If your sturnidae are kept as a flock, do you observe much aggression between its members?
Yes __ No__ If yes, describe ________________________________________________________
J. Do your birds enter and go through an obvious molt? Yes ___ No ___
If yes, please describe the most noticeable areas of feather loss. ________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
K. If your sturnidae pair shares its habitat with other avian species, do they dominate the other birds?
Yes ___ No ___ Housed alone___ If yes, how_______________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
L. If housed in a mixed species exhibit, what social status do your sturnidae appear to hold?
Aggressors ___ Submissive ___ Instigators ___ Oblivious of others ___ Other ___

             3. Visitor Impact

                         A. What barriers exist between the guest and the birds? (describe) __________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
B. How many sides of the enclosure are open to guests view?
One ___ Two ___ Three ___ Four ___ Other ____ Walk through aviary ___
C. What is the noise level in the vicinity of the birds? (Circle the appropriate number)
Low Medium High
Guests 1 2 3 4 5
Machinery 1 2 3 4 5
Animals 1 2 3 4 5
Other 1 2 3 4 5
Describe Other_________________________________________________________________
Any additional comments on area noise._____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

             4. Reproduction

                          A. Has this pair produced eggs? Yes ___ No ___
B. How long has this pair been together? ____ months ____ years
C. At what age did the birds breed? Male ____ Female ___
D. How long after entering the habitat did breeding occur? _____________
E. Were any leaves, other plant materials, or other objects used during courtship displays? (describe
types and sizes)____________________________________________________________________
                           F. Did recognizable courtship behavior occur? Yes ___ No ___
If yes, describe ____________________________________________________________________
G. Were there conspecific helpers at the nest? (describe) _____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
H. Who incubated the eggs and when? Male/when _________ Female/when ________ Unknown___
I. Who was the primary chick care giver? Male ___ Female ___ Both sexes ___ Unknown ___
J. During the breeding season who was observed to investigate the nest site first?
   Male ___ Female ___ Both ___ Unknown ___
K. Which member of the pair appears to be more aggressive toward other birds near the nest site?
   Male ___ Female___ Both ___ Neither ___
L. Are you familiar with any instances of hybridization with this species? Yes ___ No ____
If yes, describe _____________________________________________________________________

             5. Nest site description

A. Where is the location of the nest site? (Check all that apply)
      Furthest from the keeper habitat entrance ___ Furthest from public view/impact ___
      In the upper 25% of the aviary space ___ In the habitat’s mid level ___
      In the lower 25% of the aviary space ___ Other (describe)__________________________
B. What vegetation surrounds the nest site?
      None ___ Sparse ___ Heavy ___ Nest site is completely concealed by vegetation ___
      Nest site is concealed by other barrier (describe)_______________________________________
C. What is the distance from the nest box entrance to the floor of the enclosure? ____ feet
D. What is the distance from the actual nest cup to the floor of the enclosure? ____ feet
E. What is the distance from the nest entrance to the ceiling of the enclosure? ____ feet
                          F. Who provided the nest site? Staff ___ Bird built ____
G. Did the birds build their own nest within a provided nest box? Yes ___ No ___
H. How many nest sites are offered per pair of sturnidae in the enclosure? _____
I. What nesting facilities are offered by the staff?
      Box with circular entrance hole ___ Box with front ½ open ____
      Platforms ___ Baskets ___ Man-made hollows ____

      Natural or bird made hollows ___ Other (describe)____________________________________
                          J. If a nest box was successfully used, what are the dimensions? ____Height ___Width ___ Depth
K. What is the diameter of the nest box entrance? ____ inches
L. Location of the nest box entrance? Top ¼ of box ___ Middle of box ___ Bottom ¼ of box ___

                                        M. Was there an inspection door on your nest box? If so where located. __________________________

                                       N. Are nest box substrates supplied by keeper? (describe) _____________________________________

O. If your nest box has any additional feature, such as an interior ladder or shelf, describe these features.
                          P. How was the box mounted? Horizontally ___ Vertically ___ Other (describe) _________________
Q. Are nest building materials provided for the birds? Yes ___ No ___
R. Check off all of the following items that were used by the birds in nest construction.
     Twigs ___ Feathers ___ String ___ Leaves (type and size) _________________
     Grasses ___ Other (describe)___________________________________________________
S. It what manner were the above items placed in the nest by the birds?
     Scattered ___ Shallow depression ___ Deep cup ___
     Box stuffed to entrance /eggs laid on top___ Other (describe)__________________________
6. Egg Information (Describing your most recent clutch)
A. Number of eggs laid in the clutch ____
B. Number of eggs that were fertile in the clutch _____
C. Number of eggs that were infertile in the same clutch _____
D. Egg color ________________________________
E. Length of incubation ______ days ____ unknown
F. In which months did eggs successfully hatch? _____________________________________________
G. During which season did your birds reproduce? ( Check all that apply)
Summer__ Fall __ Winter __ Spring __
7. Artificial incubation and chick rearing
                          A. If eggs were pulled from the nest for artificial incubation please explain why?
Parental neglect ___ Aggressive avian inhabitants___ Rodent/predator problems___
Other (describe) ____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

                                        B. At what temperature were the eggs incubated? _____Fahrenheit _____Celsius

                                        C. What level was the humidity maintained? _____ wet bulb ____ other

                                        D. How many days of incubation? _____ Days ____ Unknown

                          E. If chicks needed to be pulled from their parents for hand rearing, please explain why.
      Parental neglect ___ Aggressive avian inhabitants___ Rodent predators___
      Other (describe) ____________________________________________________________________
F. Were chicks reared with clutch mates?
      Reared alone ____ Reared as group ____ Reared with other species ___ Other _________
                           G. At what age were chicks pulled from parents? _____ Days
                           H. At what temperatures and days in age were brooders maintained? (Ex. Age 1-2 Days Temp 98)
Age_____ Temp___ / Age_____ Temp___ / Age____ Temp___ / Age____ Temp___
Age_____ Temp___ / Age_____ Temp___ / Age____ Temp ___ / Age____ Temp___
                           I. At what age did chicks feed on their own? _________________ Days
                           J. At what age was hand feeding stopped? _______________ Days
K. At what age did chicks refuse to be hand fed? ______________ Days
L. Diet fed to hand rear sturnidae (please indicate percentages)
     Pelleted diet (type/brand) _________________________
     Insects (type) ___________________________________
     Meat (type/brand) _______________________________
     Pinkies ________________________________________
     Fruits (type)____________________________________
     Vegetables (type) ________________________________
     Other __________________________________________
                          M. If given pedialyte during the handrearing process, how was it offered?
_________________________________________________________________________________
N. How did the diet change as the chicks aged? _____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
O. If possible please send copies of hand rearing technique and diet records.
P. If your chicks were given water, or other liquid during the hand rearing process, describe how and
     when it was offered. ________________________________________________________________
Q. If your chicks were given a vitamin and/or mineral supplement what types/brands were used?
________________________________________________________________________________
8. Diets
A. In what percentages are the following dietary items included in your adult sturnidae diet?
     Pellets (type/brand) __________________________________
     Fruit ______________________________________________
     Vegetables _________________________________________
     Other ingredients ____________________________________

                                        B. Which of the above food items are the most preferred by your birds? ___________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________
C. What meat ingredients do you feed to your birds?
     Pinkies (amount and frequency)_____________________
     Prepared meat (Example: bird of prey)____________________________________
D. Live food (describe the amount and frequency of feeding for each live food item below)
     small mealworms ______________
     large mealworms ______________
     waxworms __________________
     crickets ________________
     other (describe) _______________
E. If insects are fed on a rotational basis, how often are they fed? _____ x weekly
F. Which of the above insects are the most favored by your birds? _______________________________

                                        G. Are any seasonal changes made to your diet? (example: In season fruit or vegetables added to diet).

      Or are your birds fed roughly the same diet throughout the year?
      No, diet remains constant throughout year____ Yes, diet changes are made ____
      If yes, describe changes ________________________________________________________

                                        H. If your live insects are fed a vitamin, mineral, or special diet before they are fed to your birds please
                                             describe:

9. Medical

                                        A. Describe any instance of disease, ailments, and causes of death among your sturnidae.
                                             (Attach medical reports if available.

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

                                       B. Have you experienced any egg binding among your sturnidae? Yes ___ No ___

If yes, what did you attribute the problem to?
Calcium deficiency ____ Age of female ____ Health of female ___ Unknown ___
Weather conditions (describe)______________ Other (describe)____________________

                                       C. Have you experienced any incidences of hemachromatosis (iron storage disease)? Yes ___ No ___

If yes, what did you attribute this to ________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________