Photo © by Alok Tewari
Sat Tal Forest, Alt. 5500 ft. Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 21 November 2019
Alternative names: Green Magpie; Hunting Greenpie; Hunting Cissa; Green Hunting Crow
- Cissa chinensis
Identification
37 - 39cm (14½-15¼ in). A distinctive and striking green magpie:
- Black band from base of bill over eye to side of head
- Green plumage
- Chestnut wings with black-and-white tertial tips
- Feet and bill bright red
- Long graduated tail with whitish tip
Sexes similar. Juveniles are duller overall. The colours can bleach out and the green plumage becomes bluish!
Variations
- klossi with a yellow forecrown
- margaritae with entire crown bright yellow
- robinsoni also with yellowish crown
Similar species
Similar to Yellow-breasted Magpie but has longer tail, bold black and white tertial tips (not pale green) and no yellow wash on underparts. Short-tailed Green Magpie has a much shorter tail and pale green tertials.
Distribution
Found in Asia from the Himalayas in northeast India east to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, extreme southern China (Yunnan and Guanxi) to Burma, Laos and Vietnam. Also in extreme southwest Thailand and peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.
Not uncommon to locally common.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies[1]:
- C. c. chinensis:
- C. c. robinsoni:
- C. c. klossi:
- Central Indochina
- C. c. margaritae:
- Southern Vietnam (Langbian Mountains)
- C. c. minor:
Habitat
Montane forest. Broadleaved evergreen and mixed deciduous jungles up to 2100m
Behaviour
A shy bird. Travels with mixed species bird waves when feeding, especially with laughinghthrushes and drongos. [3]
Feeds on beetles, mantises, small frogs, snakes, lizards and bird's eggs and nestlings. Also seen feeding on carrion.
Breeding season starts in April and May in India and January to February in Borneo. The nest is a bowl made of twigs, placed well hidden in a small tree, amid shrubbery or in bamboo. Lays 4-6 eggs.
A resident species.
Vocalisation
Recording © by Alok Tewari
Sat Tal Forest, Alt. 5500 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 21 November 2019
This individual moved to the canopy after bathing in a stream, preened and called while on perch, and then, in flight.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Descriptions from BF Member 996sps
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Common Green Magpie. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 30 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Common_Green_Magpie
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
