The discovery of a fallen nestling myna bird in Key West has generated some excitement among avian enthusiasts, who say the existence of actual nests on the island has until now not been confirmed.

State wildlife officials say that, for now, there is no evidence of a problem in Florida with the highly invasive species.

"They are fairly common and we know they are prolific," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spokeswoman Carly Canion. "We know there is a breeding population in the Keys, so we don't see this as a significant or new find. They can potentially be a problem. There doesn't at this time seem to be a big problem."

Other bird experts say most information about mynas and their foothold in Florida has been anecdotal so far, and that they view evidence of nesting mynas as an important development that should be watched.

"The nesting is new," said Peter Frezza of Audubon Florida, who observed nesting mynas in Tavernier for the first time last year. He was not aware of any nesting in Key West.

Asked if the existence of nesting mynas in the Keys should raise concerns, Frezza said yes.

"When one species comes in, they replace another," he said, noting that it was too soon to tell what other bird species might be displaced by mynas if their population exploded.

The Key West nestling was found July 17 near the Metro PCS building at 1700 N. Roosevelt Blvd., said Peggy Coontz, animal care director at the Key West Wildlife Center.

"He was brought in at a couple of days old; I would say maybe hatched on July 15," Koontz said. "He was a little bit bigger than a big peanut, with gigantic legs. He was all legs."

The nestling was uninjured. He was fed a combination of fruits and live insects, as well as frozen insects, and thrived.

Koontz said the bird, who has been named Tank, will be trained to talk, and raised to be "an educational ambassador."

In June, two baby mynas were found near the Coast Guard Cutter Spruance, Koontz said, but they did not survive.

Mynas thrive in tropical climates and are native to India and portions of southeast Asia. In Australia, where the birds have run rampant, there are active myna extermination programs, because of the damage they have done to crops and trees.

"I would think there is some concern," Koontz said about the possibility of mynas overrunning other bird species. "Like the starling -- it only took a small group of them to spread over the United States. It didn't take the European starling long. But I would think that since the mynas have been seen over many years, that might indicate their survivability is not that great."

jdesantis@keysnews.com