Species group · Birds

Magpies

WAnimals has 3 species of magpie, spread across 2 families (Artamidae, Corvidae).

3 species

2 families

59 countries

352 parks

Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 3.

All 3 species of magpies on WAnimals

Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Eurasian Magpie

Pica pica

Green Jay

Cyanocorax yncas

Australian Magpie

Cracticus tibicen

3 Least Concern

No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.

Recorded in 59 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

It forms monogamous pairs for life that usually hold the same territory year after year.
From Eurasian Magpie
It eats insects, small mammals, the eggs and chicks of other birds, carrion, grain and other plant food.
From Eurasian Magpie
One ringed bird reached a record 21.7 years.
From Eurasian Magpie
It has been documented using twigs as tools to extract grubs from bark, one of the few American corvids in which that behaviour has been seen.
From Green Jay
Its crown of electric-blue feathers is erectile: it raises them in social interactions and lays them flat the rest of the time, completely changing the bird's outline.
From Green Jay
Its song is one of the most complex vocalisations in the world: a fluid, polyphonic warble known as carolling that groups perform in chorus at dawn, and into which they can weave imitations of other birds, dogs and even sirens.
From Australian Magpie
It recognises individual human faces and remembers for years who has bothered it: in the breeding season it selectively swoops those people and lets everyone else pass, to the point that Australia has crowd-sourced maps of aggressive magpies.
From Australian Magpie