Magpies are

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one of the few non-mammal species able to recognize itself in a mirror test. They are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cagebirds. In addition to other members of the genus '' Pica'', corvids considered as magpies are in the genera '' Cissa'', '' Urocissa'', and '' Cyanopica''. 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 Kashmir. Magpies of the genus ''Cyanopica'' are found in East Asia and the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. The birds called magpies in Australia are, however, not related to the magpies in the rest of the world.

Name

References dating back to

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period la ...

call the bird a "pie", derived from Latin ''pica'' and cognate to French ''pie''; this term has fallen out of use. The tendency in previous centuries was to give birds common names, such as robin redbreast (which now is called the

robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

), jenny wren, etc. The magpie was originally variously maggie pie and mag pie. The term " pica" for the human disorder involving a compulsive desire to eat items that are not food is borrowed from the Latin name of the magpie (''Pica pica''), for its reputed tendency to feed on miscellaneous things.

Systematics and species

According to some studies, magpies do not form the

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

group they are traditionally believed to be; tails have elongated (or shortened) independently in multiple lineages of corvid birds. Among the traditional magpies, two distinct lineages apparently exist. One consists of Holarctic species with black and white colouration, and is probably closely related to crows and Eurasian jays. The other contains several species from

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

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 are classified as the genus ''Cyanopica''. Other research has cast doubt on the taxonomy of the ''Pica'' magpies, since ''P. hudsonia'' and ''P. nuttalli'' may not be different species, whereas the

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

n 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 else only a single species, ''Pica pica'', exists. Holarctic (black-and-white) magpies *Genus '' Pica'' ** Eurasian magpie, ''Pica pica'' **

Black-billed magpie The black-billed magpie (''Pica hudsonia''), also known as the American magpie, is a bird in the corvid family found in the western half of North America. It is black and white, with black areas on the wings and tail showing iridescent hints of ...

, ''Pica hudsonia'' (may be conspecific with ''P. pica'') **

Yellow-billed magpie The yellow-billed magpie ''(Pica nuttalli)'', also known as the California magpie, is a large bird in the crow family that is restricted to the U.S. state of California. It inhabits the Central Valley and the adjacent chaparral foothills and mou ...

, ''Pica nuttalli'' (may be conspecific with ''P. (pica) hudsonia'') **

Asir magpie The Asir magpie (''Pica asirensis''), also known as the Arabian magpie, is a highly endangered species of magpie endemic to Saudi Arabia. It is only found in the country's southwestern highlands, in the Asir Region. It occurs only in African jun ...

, ''Pica asirensis'' (may be conspecific with ''P. pica'') ** Maghreb magpie, ''Pica mauritanica'' (may be conspecific with ''P. pica'') **

Oriental magpie The Oriental magpie (''Pica serica'') is a species of magpie found from south-eastern Russia and Myanmar to eastern China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and northern Indochina. It is also a common symbol of the Korean identity, and has been adopted as t ...

, ''Pica sericea'' (may be conspecific with ''P. pica'') ** Black-rumped magpie. ''Pica bottenensis'' (may be conspecific with ''P. pica'') Oriental (blue and green) magpies *Genus '' Urocissa'' ** Taiwan blue magpie, ''Urocissa caerulea'' ** Red-billed blue magpie, ''Urocissa erythrorhyncha'' ** Yellow-billed blue magpie, ''Urocissa flavirostris'' **

White-winged magpie The white-winged magpie or Hainan magpie (''Urocissa whiteheadi'') is a passerine bird of the crow family, Corvidae. It is unusual among the members of its genus in that it is black and white, lacking the blue plumage other ''Urocissa'' magpies ha ...

, ''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 magpies, ''Platysmurus'', are treepies; they are neither magpies, nor as was long believed, jays. Treepies are a distinct group of corvids externally similar to magpies. *The Australian magpie, ''Cracticus tibicen'', is conspicuously "pied", with black and white plumage reminiscent of a Eurasian magpie. It is a member of the family Artamidae and not a corvid. *The magpie-robins, members of the genus ''Copsychus'', have a similar "pied" appearance, but they are Old World flycatchers, unrelated to the corvids.

Human interactions

Cultural references

East Asia

In East Asian cultures, the magpie is a very popular bird and is a symbol of good luck and fortune. The magpie is a common subject in Chinese paintings. It is also often found in traditional Chinese poetry and couplets. In addition, in the folklore of China, all the magpies of the Qixi Festival every year will fly to the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked ey ...

and form a bridge, where the separated Cowherd and Weaver Girl will meet. In their culture the Milky Way is like a river, and the Cowherd and Weaver Girl refer to the famous α-Aquilae and α-Lyrae of modern Astronomy, respectively. For this reason the magpie bridge has come to symbolize a relationship between men and women. Magpies have an important place in the birth myth of Ai Xinjue Luo Bukuri Yushun, the ancestor of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. The magpie is a national bird of

Europe

In European culture the magpie is reputed to collect shiny objects such as wedding rings and other valuables, a well known example being

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

's opera '' La Gazza Ladra'' (''The Thieving Magpie''). A recent study conducted by Exeter University found that Eurasian magpies express

neophobia Neophobia is the fear of anything new, especially a persistent and abnormal fear. In its milder form, it can manifest as the unwillingness to try new things or break from routine. In the context of children the term is generally used to indicate ...

when presented with unfamiliar objects, and were less likely to approach or interact with the shiny objects - metal screws, foil rings and

aluminium foil Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in North American English; often informally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than ; thinner gauges down to are also commonly used. Standard household foil is typ ...

- used in the experiments. However, magpies are naturally curious like other members of the corvid family, and may collect shiny objects, but do not favour shiny objects over dull ones. In England, "a magpie’s nest" was a phrase used to describe something untidy and usually of little value. There is also a superstitious belief associated with magpies in the UK, whereby the sight of a single magpie is said to bring sorrow or bad luck, the sight of two magpies is said to bring joy or good luck and viewing more than two magpies is said to determine the sex of a future child, as described in the traditional nursery rhyme " One for Sorrow".

As pests

Magpies are common

orchard pest A pest is any animal or plant harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environ ...

s in some regions of the world.

Gallery

Thimindu 2010 02 20 Sinharaja Sri Lanka Blue Magpie 1.jpg, Sri Lanka blue magpie Cissa hypoleucor concolor qtl1.jpg, Indochinese green magpie Blauelester donana.jpg, Iberian magpie Pica nuttalli.jpg,

References

External links

Magpie videos, photos and sounds
on eBird {{Authority control Corvidae Magpies and treepies Bird common names