I have been following with some interest the decline of the Vancouver
population of the Crested Myna. How ironic that this exotic starling
should be out-competed by another exotic starling! At least, in this case,
the losing species is still thriving in its original Asian range. I am
wondering, did the Crested Mynah ever have any impact on native species
similar to that of the European Starling? Should we be sad, neutral or
happy about this?

The demise of the last two birds in Vancouver may have repercussions for
those listers among us. While discussing with my Florida birding friend
Wes Biggs the somewhat arcane ABA rules about listing exotics in North
America (quite relevant in a place like Florida), Wes said that, if an
established exotic species disappears, we must all delete it from our ABA
lists, because its disappearance demonstrates that it was never REALLY
established in the first place. This would seem to make sense with some
exotics that come and go quickly, but in this case, when the species has
been around for a century, it doesn't seem right.

Rachel Lawson
RachelLawson at softhome.net
Seattle