Magpies

MAGPIE SPECIES

Eurasian magpie (Pica pica), Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia), Yellow-billed magpie (Pica nuttalli), Asir magpie (Pica asirensis), Maghreb magpie (Pica mauritanica), Korean magpie (Pica sericea), Black-rumped magpie (Pica bottenensis),Taiwan blue magpie (Urocissa caerulea), Red-billed blue magpie (Urocissa erythrorhyncha),Yellow-billed blue magpie (Urocissa flavirostris), White-winged magpie (Urocissa whiteheadi), Sri Lanka blue magpie (Urocissa ornata), Common green magpie (Cissa chinensis), Indochinese green magpie (Cissa hypoleuca), Javan green magpie (Cissa thalassina), Bornean green magpie( Cissa jefferyi), Azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus), Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki)

Holarctic (black-and-white) magpies
Genus Pica

Eurasian magpie

Common Magpie Pica pica, sitting on a bush green background.

Eurasian magpie (Pica pica)
Range – extends across temperate Eurasia from Spain and Ireland in the west across Asia to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Effect of urbanization intensity on nest-site selection by Eurasian Magpies (Pica pica). Xu Y, Cao Z, Wang B.Urban Ecosystems. 2020 Oct

Massive and effective acorn dispersal into agroforestry systems by an overlooked vector, the Eurasian magpie (Pica pica). Martínez‐Baroja L, Pérez‐Camacho L, Villar‐Salvador P, Rebollo S, Quiles P, Gómez‐Sánchez D, Molina‐Morales M, Leverkus AB, Castro J, Rey‐Benayas JM.Ecosphere. 2019 Dec;

Cache marking under field conditions does not affect nut recovery rate by the Eurasian magpie Pica pica, a scatter-hoarder corvid. Molina-Morales M, Albaladejo G, Castro J.Ardeola. 2019 Feb

Black-billed magpie

A Black-billed Magpie resting on a rock in Colorado

Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia)
Range – north America from coastal southern Alaska, central British Columbia, and the southern halves of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, through the Rocky Mountains down south to all the Rocky Mountain states including New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.

“Pica pica in the New World seems restricted to the “cold type steppe dry climate” region characteristic of that portion of the United States north of approximately 35′ ^latitude, west of about 100° longitude, and east of the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Range. Within this area Pica pica is widely distributed, breeding at most elevations up to10,500ft.(Ligon,1961)”
Distribution and abundance of the Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica) in North America. Bock CE, Lepthien LW.The Great Basin Naturalist. 1975 Sep

BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES (PICA HUDSONIA) CACHING FOOD IN SNOW. Hendricks P.Northwestern Naturalist. 2020 Jul

Declines of Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia) and Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) in the north-central United States following the invasion of West Nile virus. Brenner SJ, Jorgensen JG.Western North American Naturalist. 2020 Jun

First observation of burnt vertebrate carrion scavenging by black-billed magpies (Pica hudsonia (Sabine)) highlights the need to evaluate all possible scavengers at a site. Stamper T, Pharr L, Anderson GS, Gondor C, Dedmon A, Kimsey R.Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal. 2020 May

Deep phylogeographic breaks in magpie Pica pica across the Holarctic: concordance with bioacoustics and phenotypes. Kryukov AP, Spiridonova LN, Mori S, Arkhipov VY, Red’kin YA, Goroshko OA, Lobkov EG, Haring E.Zoological science. 2017 Jun

concept learning in Black-billed magpies (Pica hudsonia). Magnotti JF, Wright AA, Leonard K, Katz JS, Kelly DM.Psychonomic bulletin & review. 2017 Apr

Yellow-billed magpie

Yellow-Billed Magpie, Photo By Molly Goheen, Vallejo California

Yellow-billed magpie, Pica nuttalli
Range – California

Abundance and distribution of the Yellow-billed Magpie. Western Birds, Crosbie, S.P., Souza, L.E. and Ernest, H.B., 2014.

Development of 10 microsatellite loci for Yellow‐billed Magpies (Pica nuttalli) and corvid ecology and West Nile virus studies. Ernest HB, Well JA, Kurushima JD.Molecular ecology resources. 2008 Jan

Vegetative and thermal aspects of roost-site selection in urban Yellow-billed Magpies. Crosbie SP, Bell DA, Bolen GM.The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 2006 Dec

Extra-pair behavior in Yellow-billed Magpies (Pica nuttalli).Bolen, G.M., 2000.

Yellow-billed Magpie drowns its prey. Blackburn CF.The Condor. 1968 Jul

Asir magpie

Asir magpie (Pica asirensis)
Range – southwestern Asir region highlands of Saudi Arabia.

Habitat modelling reveals extreme habitat fragmentation in the endangered and declining Asir Magpie, Pica asirensis, Saudi Arabia’s only endemic bird (Aves: Passeriformes). Boland CR, Burwell BO.Zoology in the Middle East. 2020 Oct

Maghreb magpie

Maghreb magpie (Pica mauritanica)
Range – North Africa from Western Sahara east to Morocco and Tunisia.

Aymen Nefla
Distribution and Vulnerability Assessment of North African Maghreb Magpies (Pica mauritanica) The Rufford Foundation

Complete taxon sampling of the avian genus Pica (magpies) reveals ancient relictual populations and synchronous Late‐Pleistocene demographic expansion across the Northern Hemisphere. Song G, Zhang R, Alström P, Irestedt M, Cai T, Qu Y, Ericson PG, Fjeldså J, Lei F.Journal of Avian Biology. 2018 Feb

Korean magpie

Two korean magpie flying up and fighting together during hot afternoon.

Korean magpie (Pica sericea)

Accumulation of perfluoroalkyl substance (PFASs) in Eurasian magpie (Pica pica sericea) in Korea (Doctoral dissertation, 한양대학교). 박기완, 2018

Urban and natural components of Korean magpie (Pica pica sericea) territories and their effects on prey density. Kim, S., Srygley, R.B., Lee, J.Y., Lee, S.I. and Choe, J.C., 2012.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza in magpies (Pica pica sericea) in South Korea. Kwon YK, Joh SJ, Kim MC, Lee YJ, Choi JG, Lee EK, Wee SH, Sung HW, Kwon JH, Kang MI, Kim JH.Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 2005 Jul

The ecology of the Black-billed Magpie Pica pica sericea in Japan. Acta Ornithologica, Eguchi, K. and Takeishi, M., 1997.

Black-rumped magpie

Black-rumped magpie (Pica bottenensis) (may be conspecific with P. pica)

Oriental (blue and green) magpies
Genus Urocissa

Taiwan blue magpie