I had heard there was a pair of myna birds nesting in a storefront near my old office. Since I was going to be running errands nearby I threw my camera in the car. I found the nest one morning in late May but no birds at first.

After sitting in the parking lot for a few minutes trying to decide whether to leave and come back late or just wait, this bird flew up to the nest. It has some leaves in his beak so he must have been adding to the nest.

Another one showed up on the light pole. This one had a band on his leg. Mynas are not native to the US. Years ago they were popular pets so these could be escapees or they were let go.

They are pretty birds with that yellow around the face. I had not heard of them being in the Tampa Bay area until this spring. They are common down in south Florida though. Just a few weeks earlier when Brett and I were visiting relatives with his sister and her husband we saw one. We were having breakfast early one morning at a diner in Dania Beach and Laureen said “There’s a bird in the parking lot with yellow legs and yellow around the face”. I couldn’t think of what it was but we were able to find it hopping around the cars and sure enough it was a myna, my first one. I didn’t have my camera and it flew off quickly so I didn’t get a shot. Then 2 weeks later I hear about this pair right here in my area.