Magpie
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| Magpie |
Magpies are birds of the Corvidae (crow) family. The black and white Eurasian magpie is widely considered one of the most intelligent animals in the world and one of the only nonmammal species able to recognize itself in a mirror test (a recent study suggests that giant manta rays can also recognize their own reflections). In addition to other members of the genus Pica, corvids considered as magpies are in the genera Cissa.
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| Magpie |
Magpies of the genus Pica are generally found in temperate regions of Europe, Asia and western North America, with populations also present in Tibet and high elevation areas of India, i.e. Ladakh (Kargil and Leh) and Pakistan. Magpies of the genus Cyanopica are found in East Asia and also the Iberian peninsula. The birds called magpies in Australia are not related to the magpies in the rest of the world (see Australian magpie).
| Magpie | |
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| Eurasian magpie | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Genera | |
Systematics and species
According to some studies, magpies do not form the monophyletic group they are traditionally believed to be—a long tail has certainly elongated (or shortened) independently in multiple lineages of corvid birds. Among the traditional magpies, there appear to be two distinct lineages. One consists of Holarctic species with black/white colouration and is probably closely related to crows and Eurasian jays. The other contains several species from South to East Asia with vivid colouration which is predominantly green or blue. The azure-winged magpie and the Iberian magpie, formerly thought to constitute a single species with a most peculiar distribution, have been shown to be two distinct species and classified as the genus Cyanopica.
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Other research has cast doubt on the taxonomy of the Pica magpies, since it appears that P. hudsonia and P. nuttalli may not be different species, whereas the Korean race of P. pica is genetically very distinct from the other Eurasian (as well as the North American) forms. Either the North American, Korean, and remaining Eurasian forms are accepted as three or four separate species, or there exists only a single species, Pica pica.
Taxonomy
mtDNA sequence analysis indicates a close relationship between the yellow-billed magpie and the black-billed magpie, rather than between the outwardly very similar black-billed and European magpies (P. pica); the two American forms could be considered as one species.
The Korean subspecies of the European magpie (P. p. sericea) is more distantly related to all other (including North American) forms judging from the molecular evidence, and thus, either the North American forms are maintained as specifically distinct and the Korean (and possibly related) subspecies are also elevated to species status, or all magpies are considered to be subspecies of a single species, Pica pica.
Combining fossil evidence and paleobiogeographical considerations with the molecular data indicates that the yellow-billed magpie's ancestors became isolated in California quite soon after the ancestral magpies colonized North America (which probably happened some 3–4 mya) due to early ice ages and the ongoing uplift of the Sierra Nevada, but that during interglacials there occurred some gene flow between the yellow- and black-billed magpies until reproductive isolation was fully achieved in the Pleistocene.
The yellow-billed magpie is adapted to the hot summers of California's Central Valley and experiences less heat stress than the black-billed magpie.
Behaviour
The yellow-billed magpie is gregarious and roosts communally. There may be a cluster of communal roosts in one general area made up of a central roost containing many birds and several outlying roosts with fewer.
Yellow-billed magpie flocks are known to engage in funeral-like behavior for their dead.
Breeding
The yellow-billed magpie prefers groves of tall trees along rivers and near open areas, though in some cities they have begun to nest in vacant lots and other weedy places. A pair of birds builds a dome-shaped nest with sticks and mud on a high branch. Nests may be 14 meters above the ground and are sometimes built far out on long branches to prevent predators from reaching them. They nest in small colonies, or occasionally alone. Even when nesting close to other birds they may exhibit some territorial behavior. These birds are permanent residents and do not usually wander far outside of their breeding range.
Extra-pair copulation is not uncommon among yellow-billed magpies. After mating, a male will exhibit mate-guarding, preventing the female from mating with other males until she lays the first egg. The clutch contains 5 to 7 eggs which are incubated by the female for 16 to 18 days. Both parents feed the nestlings a diet of mostly insects until fledgingoccurs in 30 days.
Food and feeding
These omnivorous birds forage on the ground, mainly eating insects, especially grasshoppers, but also carrion, acorns and fruit in fall and winter. They are attracted to recently butchered carcasses on farms and ranches. They pick through garbage at landfills and dumping sites, and sometimes hunt rodents.
Diseases
This bird is extremely susceptible to West Nile virus. Between 2004 and 2006 it is estimated that 50% of all yellow-billed magpies died of the virus.Because the bird tends to roost near water bodies such as rivers, it is often exposed to mosquitoes.
Conservation
The IUCN classifies the bird as a species of least concern, but the Nature Conservancy places it in the vulnerable category. Besides West Nile Virus, threats include loss of habitat and rodent poison. The bird has a limited area of distribution but is widespread throughout the area and still common in many places.
Holarctic (black-and-white) magpies
- Genus Pica
- Eurasian magpie, Pica pica
- Black-billed magpie, Pica hudsonia (may be conspecific with P. pica)
- Yellow-billed magpie, Pica nuttalli (may be conspecific with P. (pica) hudsonia)
- Asir magpie, Pica asirensis (may be conspecific with P. pica)
- Maghreb magpie, Pica mauritanica (may be conspecific with P. pica)
- Korean magpie, Pica sericea (may be conspecific with P. pica)
Oriental (blue/green) magpies
- Genus Urocissa
- Taiwan blue magpie, Urocissa caerulea
- Red-billed blue magpie, Urocissa erythrorhyncha
- Yellow-billed blue magpie, Urocissa flavirostris
- White-winged magpie, Urocissa whiteheadi
- Sri Lanka blue magpie, Urocissa ornata
- Genus Cissa
- Common green magpie, Cissa chinensis
- Indochinese green magpie, Cissa hypoleuca
- Javan green magpie, Cissa thalassina
- Bornean green magpie, Cissa jefferyi
Azure-winged magpies
- Genus Cyanopica
- Azure-winged magpie, Cyanopica cyanus
- Iberian magpie, Cyanopica cooki
Other "magpies"
- The black magpie, Platysmurus leucopterus, is a treepie; it is neither a magpie nor, as was long believed, a jay. Treepies are a distinct group of corvids externally similar to magpies.
- The Australian magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen, is conspicuously piebald, with black and white plumage reminiscent of a European magpie. It is a member of the family Artamidaeand not a corvid.
In culture
- The Magpie's Nest, an English fairy tale
- The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, Chinese folk tale where a flock of magpies form a bridge to reunite the lovers for one day.
- "Heckle and Jeckle", a series of 1960s American cartoon shorts about two magpies who are always getting into trouble.
- "One for Sorrow" (nursery rhyme)
- La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) an opera by Gioachino Rossini, and also The Thieving Magpie, a live album by the prog rock band Marillion, so named because the band used Rossini's overture as the opening music for their concerts.
- 'The Magpie Salute, a rock band formed by The Black Crowes co-founder Rich Robinson.
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