Differentiating hybrid and juvenile of black-winged myna (Acridotheres melanopterus) by using morphometric data

Abstract

The studies related to black-winged myna (Acridotheres melanopterus) are still very lack at the moment. The bird is an endemic species of Java and Bali which is currently critically endangered according to the International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) since 2010. Hybridization of this species in captivity often occurs with other myna species. The morphological features between hybrid black-winged myna and pure juvenile white starlings are very similar. It is difficult to distinguish hybrid black-winged starling and pure juveniles without thorough observation. The study was conducted to determine the differences between hybrid black-winged myna and pure juvenile based on the morphometric characteristics using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Samples were selected using the purposive sampling method at Cikananga Conservation Breeding Center located in Sukabumi, West Java in May 2017. The morphometric data were taken directly from eight hybrid birds and 14 pure juveniles. Data collection was done by measuring body length, body width, body circumference, wingspan and weight. The morphometric data were analyzed by PCA using the SPSS V.20 program. The analysis shows that length and width are the main distinguishing factors between hybrid birds and pure juveniles with values of 0.916 and 0.862 respectively.