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Bird name:

Black-billed Magpie

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

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

Head

Topo Map: Perching-like Head

Bill Shape: All-purpose
Eye Color: Varies with season and age. Pale to blue-gray, then brown to gray in cycles. In winter, spring, all become brown.
Head Pattern: Plain
Crown Color: Black
Forehead Color: Black
Nape Color: Black
Throat Color: Black
Cere color: No Data

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Body

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Length Range: 44-56 cm (17.5-22 in)
Weight: 187 g (6.6 oz)
Size: Size 4. Large (16 - 32 in)
Color: White, Black
Underparts: Black breast with white belly and sides.
Upperparts: Black with iridescent blue sheen.
Back Pattern: Solid
Belly Pattern: Solid
Breast Pattern: Solid

Flight

Topo Map: Perching-like Flight

Flight Pattern: Direct flight with slow steady wing beats.
Wingspan Range: 61 cm (24 in)
Wing Shape: Rounded-Wings
Tail Shape: Pointed Tail
Tail Pattern: Solid
Upper Tail: Black with iridescent green sheen.
Under Tail: Black
Leg Color: Black

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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

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.

● Song: "mag-mag-mag", "yak-yak-yak"

● 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 Head

Perching-like Body

Perching-like Flight

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

Black-billed Magpie

Head

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Body

Flight

Black-billed Magpie

Flight Pattern