He had discovered it a year earlier while exploring the dry lowland forest along the northwestern coast of Bali, in what was then the Dutch East Islands. Bali is one of over 13,000 islands that make up the SE Asian Republic of Indonesia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, only 8 degrees south of the equator, and is located east of Java and north-west of Australia. The tallest is over 3000m. Tropical rainfall, consistent temperatures and the rich volcanic soil, provide an ideal environment for intensive agriculture which includes the production of rice, coffee, copra, and vegetables, as well as cattle herding.
Some islands have no dry season.
With its natural range being so limited, the wild population of the Bali mynah has always been small. Even the most optimistic observers have never put it at more than 1000 birds. But following its discovery, the numbers have declined at a precipitous rate. In the 1920 s, the Bali mynah occupied 30,000 ha. Since 1966, the Bali mynah has been listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red data book.