Species: Pica hudsonia
Black-billed Magpie
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Corvidae
Genus
Pica
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
pie d'Amérique
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Corvidae - Pica - ) and constituting a superspecies with it (AOU 1998).
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
A bird (magpie).
Migration
true - false - false - Wanders outside of normal breeding range in winter.
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Insects, carrion, some eggs and young of small birds, mice, snakes, some grain and fruit. Often forages on the ground.
Reproduction Comments
Clutch size usually 5-8. Incubation 16-18 days, by female. Monogamous; often retains mate for several years. Mature in 1 year. Nests in scattered loose colonies. Alberta study indicates that male parental care required for successful rearing of young (Dunn and Hannon 1989). See Reese and Kadlec (1985) for data from Utah.
Ecology Comments
Usually seen in small family flocks of 6-10 birds; larger flocks may form in winter. Abandoned magpie nests often are used by other bird species as shelter, day-time retreat or nest. May roost communally after breeding season and especially in winter (up to 150 birds in February-March in Alberta, Reebs 1987).
Length
48
Weight
189
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-12-02
Global Status Last Changed
1996-12-02
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S5&CA.MB=S4&CA.NT=S4&CA.ON=S3&CA.SK=S5&CA.YT=S4&US.AK=S5&US.AZ=S3&US.CA=SNR&US.CO=S5&US.ID=S5&US.KS=S4&US.MN=SNR&US.MT=S5&US.NN=S4&US.NE=S3&US.NV=S5&US.NM=S4&US.ND=SNR&US.OK=S3&US.OR=S5&US.SD=S4&US.UT=S5&US.WA=S5&US.WY=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - RESIDENT: in North America, south-coastal and southern Alaska south through western Canada to eastern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, extreme northeastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, western and northeastern Oklahoma, western Kansas; Old World from northern Eurasia south to Mediterranean area, northwestern Africa, Iran, Southeast Asia, Japan. WANDERS: widely.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)