Mynas are so common in Singapore that most of us wouldn’t even bat an eyelid when we see them.
But on Wednesday (16 Dec), one particular myna caught the eye of a netizen at Choa Chu Kang.
Having never seen a white myna before, the netizen took to Facebook to find out if anyone else had.
As it turns out, encounters with white mynas are truly few and far between.
With a population of over 100,000 according to The Straits Times, mynas are one of the most common birds in Singapore. But they typically have black feathers, with only some streaks of white on their wings or tails.
But on Wednesday (16 Dec) morning, a netizen spotted a myna at Choa Chu Kang Avenue 5 that didn’t quite look like the others.
Another netizen in the comment section also wrote that he saw the same white bird in the area.
The bird appears to be a leucistic myna, with white feathers, black patches, and every myna’s signature yellow beak.
From time to time, there have been sightings of leucistic mynas, whose white patches are apparently due to a partial loss of pigmentation.
But mostly-white myna sightings like this are very rare, with only a small number reported in the past few years.
The most recent sighting was in Dec 2018, coincidentally also in the Choa Chu Kang area.
According to the Bird Ecology Study Group, white mynas are usually seen alone, often rejected by other mynas. Sometimes, they’d even be attacked by their own kind.
Luckily for this particular white myna, it faced no such discrimination.
When the netizen spotted it, he said it was “with its friends, all were playing together”.
Its friends certainly did not find it a bird-en in any way.
Netizens agreed that such a sighting was a rare one. One netizen explained that white mynas don’t usually survive long in the wild as their pale colouring makes them susceptible to predators.
But for most netizens, the white myna was simply just a beautiful and special sight to be treasured.
Some even joked that it was the man’s lucky day for spotting the bird, telling him to buy the lottery.
The observant netizen was certainly lucky to have caught sight of the rare bird.
Thanks to him, many others who may never encounter such a myna in person, got to see and learn about it.
Have you ever seen a white myna before? Let us know in the comments.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at hello@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
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