Starlings

About 120 species, all native to the Old World. They are stocky, strong-legged and gregarious, and most are accomplished vocal mimics. The mynas have been kept as cage birds for this ability for centuries. Many feed by inserting the closed bill into the ground and forcing it open, a technique the skull musculature is specifically built for. Two species introduced far beyond their native range are now among the most numerous birds on earth.