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Black-billed Magpie

Pica picaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Black-billed Magpie Portrait
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General

Black-billed Magpie: Large, noisy, black and white jay with very long tail and dark, stout bill. Wings and tail are iridescent blue and green-black. Sexes are similar.

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.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"mag-mag-mag", "yak-yak-yak"

Interesting Facts

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

 In the past, they 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", "gulp", "mischief", "tittering", and "tribe" of magpies.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Black-billed Magpie
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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.
Family Jays and Magpies (Corvidae)_blue
Species Pica pica
Length17.5 - 22 Inches
Wingspan24 Inches

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.
Black-billed Magpie Body Illustration
● 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