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Black-billed Magpie

Pica picaOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)
Black-billed Magpie Head Illustration

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
Black-billed Magpie Body Illustration

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
Black-billed Magpie Flight Illustration

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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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