Yellow-billed Magpie

Pica nuttalliOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)

Breeding Location:

Forest edge, Grassland with scattered trees, Mountains

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Colonial

Breeding Population:

Common in restricted range, Declining slightly

Egg Color:

Olive marked with brown or olive

Number of Eggs:

5 - 8

Incubation Days:

16 - 18

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Interior mud bowl surrounded by sticks with two entrances., Lined with plant stems, roots, and hair.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

Overview

Yellow-billed Magpie: Large jay with black hood, back and breast, featherless, pale yellow spot behind eye, and white belly. Bill is yellow. Upperwings are iridescent blue-green with large white shoulder patches. Tail is iridescent green-black, very long, and wedge-shaped. Legs and feet are black.

Range and Habitat

Yellow-billed Magpie: Resident in California's Central Valley and adjacent foothills. Preferred habitats include oak savannas, oak woods, riverside growth, ranches, and suburbs.

Breeding and Nesting

Yellow-billed Magpie: Five to eight olive eggs, marked with brown or olive, are laid in a large, domed stick nest. Nest is often built in a tree overgrown with mistletoe and is difficult to detect. Incubation ranges from 16 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Yellow-billed Magpie: Diet consists of insects, carrion, fruits, berries, and acorns; also known to steal nestlings in order to feed its own young. Usually forages by walking, running, or hopping on the ground.

Readily Eats

Cracked Corn, Suet, Sunflower Seed

Vocalization

Yellow-billed Magpie: Call is an ascending whine. Also cries "kwah-kwah-kwah."

Similar Species

Yellow-billed Magpie: Black-billed Magpie is larger and has black bill and no bare yellow facial patches.

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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.

Yellow-billed Magpie

● Song: "kwah-kwah-kwah"

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow-billed Magpie: Diet consists of insects, carrion, fruits, berries, and acorns; also known to steal nestlings in order to feed its own young. Usually forages by walking, running, or hopping on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow-billed Magpie: Five to eight olive eggs, marked with brown or olive, are laid in a large, domed stick nest. Nest is often built in a tree overgrown with mistletoe and is difficult to detect. Incubation ranges from 16 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Yellow-billed Magpie: Black-billed Magpie is larger and has black bill and no bare yellow facial patches.

Flight Pattern

Several weak wing beats, then several quicker ones.

● Range & Habitat: Yellow-billed Magpie: Resident in California's Central Valley and adjacent foothills. Preferred habitats include oak savannas, oak woods, riverside growth, ranches, and suburbs.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationCommon in restricted range, Declining slightly

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight6.1 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America