Posted by Bill Pranty on February 17, 2004 at 22:25:12:
Good evening,
There are several field marks to separate the two mynas, as well as feeding behavior. Common Myna is largely terrestrial and building nests in signs at supermarkets and other buildings, with one report of them evicting Purple Martins at a martin house. Hill Myna is largely arboreal (does it EVER get down to ground level?) and seems to nest exclusively (in Florida at least) in natural cavities, mostly in palm snags.
Common Mynas also have a wide range (now occurring -- in scattered "clumps" -- north of Orlando) and a presumably large population, while Hill Mynas are much less numerous and are limited to parts of Miami-Dade County.
Additional photos of both of these myna species are found at Dart Humeston's website.
Common: http://www.dartscape.com/birds/commonmyna.htm
Hill: http://www.dartscape.com/birds/myna/index.htm
John Boyd also has photos posted to his website.
Common: http://jboyd.net/Birds/a04jun02.html
Hill: http://jboyd.net/Birds/102_0217.html
Best regards,
Bill Pranty
Avon Park, Florida