Captured at the Kinsman Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Camera Details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel T3I 18.0 MP CMOS, w a Sigma 150mm-500mm Lens, exp 5.6, Shutter speed 1/100, ISO400 Focal Length 300mm.

This unique, rare and exotic bird is called The Bali Starling, Leucopsar Rothschildi, also known as Rothschild’s Mynah, Bali Myna or Bali Mynah is a medium-sized (up to 25cm long), stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. The bird has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow bill. Both sexes are similar.

The Bali Starling is critically endangered, hovering immediately above extinction in the wild for several years now (BirdLife International 2006). The last stronghold of the species is at Bali Barat National Park; about 1,000 individuals are believed to be held in captivity legally. In fact, the Bali Starling is so much in danger that that national park has been set up just for the Bali Starling’s survival. The wild population was at an all-time low of just 6 birds in 2001, after the late-1990s wild population of 3-4 dozen was reduced by poachers for the illegal pet trade.

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