Black-billed Magpie

Pica picaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Codes: Common Name: BBMA Scientific Name: PICHUD ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179720

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Overview

Black-billed Magpie: Large, noisy jay, mostly black, with very long tail and dark, stout bill. Wings and tail are iridescent blue and green-black. White belly and sides. Eats insects, larvae, carrion. Direct flight on shallow, steady wing beats. Often glides between perches or from perch to ground.

Range and Habitat

Black-billed Magpie: Resident from Alaska and western Canada south to California and the Great Plains. Preferred habitats include open woodlands, savannas, brush-covered country, and stream sides.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

Noisy., Call is plaintive nasal mag.

Interesting Facts

The Black-billed Magpie spends up to 40 hours building nests with domes on top.

In the past, Magpies have been considered vermin (due to their feeding on poultry eggs and orchard crops) and farmers have placed bounties on them. They are now protected in the U.S.

Unlike most birds, they can use scent to locate food.

A group of magpies has many collective nouns, including "a charm of magpies", 'a gulp of magpies", "a mischief of magpies", "a tittering of magpies", and a "tribe of magpies."

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Related Birds

Brown Jay
Green Jay
Yellow-billed Magpie
Clark's Nutcracker
American Crow

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Black-billed Magpie

● Song: Noisy., Call is plaintive nasal mag.

● Foraging & Feeding: Black-billed Magpie: Eats insects and carrion; also picks ticks off backs of elk, deer, and livestock. Forages on the ground by walking or hopping; when plentiful, food is cached.

● Breeding & nesting: Black-billed Magpie: Seven to thirteen brown marked, green gray eggs are laid in a neat cup nest within a large, bulky, domed structure of strong, often thorny twigs, with a double entrance, in a tree or bush. Incubation ranges from 16 to 21 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Black-billed Magpie: Yellow-billed Magpie is smaller and has a yellow bill and yellow patch of bare skin below or around the eye.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with slow steady wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Black-billed Magpie: Resident from Alaska and western Canada south to California and the Great Plains. Preferred habitats include open woodlands, savannas, brush-covered country, and stream sides.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationWidespread

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight6.6 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America