It is found patchily distributed across much of the mainland of the Indian Subcontinent but absent in the arid zones of India.

A. cinereus A. fuscus A. javanicus A. albocinctus A. cristatellus A. grandis A. melanopterus A. burmannicus A. ginginianus A. tristis Jungle mynas are 23-centimetre (9.1 in) long and have grey plumage, darker on the head and wings.

[6] The jungle myna is part of the Acridotheres clade which is thought to have speciated in the late Pliocene and Pleistocene Periods.

A. f. fumidus of eastern India, mainly east of the Brahmaputra in Assam and Nagaland (although movements are known),[9] was described by Sidney Dillon Ripley in 1950, although he placed it as a subspecies of cristatellus based on the prevailing treatment of the time.

[15] The jungle myna is a common resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from Nepal, Bangladesh, India.

Subspecies fuscus is found across northern India west from Mount Abu, east to Puri in Orissa.

[17] They have expanded on their own into some Pacific Islands such as Niuafo'ou where they are a threat to native bird species such as lories (Vini) with whom they compete especially for nest holes.

[21] The population torquatus of Malaysia is on the decline and is possibly being outcompeted by Javan mynas with which it form hybrids.

[24][25] They also perch on large grazing mammals, picking ectoparasites off their bodies,[26] and capturing insects that may be disturbed into flight from vegetation.

[31] They are secondary cavity nesters, using both holes in trees and in man-made constructions such as walls, embankments, and in houses from 2 to 6 metres above the ground.

[8] Species of Haemoproteus are known from the blood of mynas and they have also been found to host Plasmodium circumflexum when artificially infected in the lab.