Saturday 15 August 2009

Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica)

OTHER NAMES: Magpie, Chattermag, Margaret's Pie
Latin Etymology: Pica ("magpie") pica ("magpie")
Young Eurasian Magpie (subspecies P. p. pica) at Hampstead Heath, London - July 2011

Local Name (Spain): Urraca
Featured Subspecies: Pica pica pica
Weight: 180g
Length: 44-46cm
Wingspan: 60cm
UK GREEN LISTIUCN Red List: Least Concern

The Magpie is a very common and distinctive member of the crow family - the only member in the UK to have a long tail and regularly any amount of white on its body. Found equally easy in city as countryside, it can however provide a slightly disproportionate challenge to photograph (although still very easily) as it can be a bit of a twitchy bird that will fly away when you get too close. Widely associated with folklore, it has an anecdotal reputation as a thief of jewelry and other shiny objects and in the United Kingdom is the subject of the superstition / nursery rhyme "one for sorrow, two for joy...". 

Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes 
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Pica 
Subspecies: P. p. pica, P. p. fennorum, P. p. galliae, P. p. melanotos, P. p. mauretanica, P. p. asirensis, P. p. bactriana, P. p. hemileucoptera, P. p. leucoptera, P. p. camtschatica, P. p. bottanensis, P. p. serica

- Sighting Locations -
UNITED KINGDOM - Abundant resident (600,000 territories)
SPAIN - Scarce and Local Resident
 - SEVILLE 2011 TRIP: A few birds seen at El Rocio          

Further Notes: 
ArkiveBirdForum Opus, IUCN Red ListRSPBWikipedia, Xeno-canto

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