• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Difference between revisions of "Yellow-billed Magpie" - BirdForum Opus

m (format)
 
(8 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 +
[[Image:Yellow-billed_Magpie.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by {{user|Doug+Greenberg|Doug Greenberg}}<br />Paso Robles, [[California]], [[USA]], October 2004]]
 
;[[: Category:Pica|Pica]] nuttalli
 
;[[: Category:Pica|Pica]] nuttalli
[[Image:Yellow-billed_Magpie.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by Doug Greenberg.<br />Photo taken: [[California]].]]
 
==Description==
 
  
 
==Identification==
 
==Identification==
16-18" (41-46 cm). A slightly smaller version of [[Black-billed Magpie]], but with yellow bill and bare yellow area of skin behind eye. Large white wing patches and long, wedge-shaped, iridescent greenish-black tail. Juvenile has blackish beak and lacks bare face patch. Ranges of two magpies do not overlap.
+
Length 43-54 cm; weight 151-189 g (male), 126-158 g (female)<br />
 
+
Yellow bill and bare yellow area of skin behind eye. Large white wing patches and long, wedge-shaped, iridescent greenish-black tail.<br />
 +
Juvenile has blackish beak and lacks bare face patch.
 +
====Similar Species====
 +
A slightly smaller version of the [[Black-billed Magpie]]. Ranges of the two species do not overlap.
 
==Distribution==
 
==Distribution==
Resident in [[California]]'s Central Valley and adjacent foothills.
+
[[Image:Magpie at Mather 073113 01.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Photo by {{user|Phil+Juvet|Phil Juvet}}<br />Sacramento Mather Airport, [[California]], July 2013]]
 +
Resident in the Central Valley of [[California]] and adjacent foothills.<br />
 +
A restricted-range species, prior to 2004 locally common or abundant. The West Nile virus has reduced the population by around 50%.
  
 
==Taxonomy==
 
==Taxonomy==
This is a monotypic species.
+
This is a [[Dictionary_M-S#M|monotypic]] species<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup>.
 +
 
 +
It is closely related to [[Black-billed Magpie]] and may even be conspecific with the latter.
  
 
==Habitat==
 
==Habitat==
Oak savannas, oak woods, riverside growth, ranches, and suburbs.
+
Oak savannas, oak woods, riverside growth, ranches, and suburbs. With the loss of natural habitats, they have moved to vacant city weedy yards and lots.
  
 
==Behaviour==
 
==Behaviour==
A colony of Yellow-billed Magpies lives communally year round, feeding, socializing, and collectively mobbing predators. This magpie has found in vacant city lots and weedy storage yards a substitute for habitats it lost to intensive agriculture. It has become a city bird but keeps away from places where people gather.
+
A strongly colonial species, they live communally throughout the year, feeding, socializing, and mobbing predators. It has become a city bird but avoids heavily populated areas. However, in some places they obviously do not mind people at all.
 +
====Diet====
 +
[[Dictionary_M-O#O|Omnivorous]]. Feeds on insects, mice, bird eggs, nestlings, small reptiles, carrion (especially roadkill) and human handouts.
 +
====Vocalisation====
 +
A rising, at times "mag-mag-mag!", or a"quaaa!". Can be heard with a whining "maaag" call.
 +
 
 +
====Breeding====
 +
Breeding season from December to May. They lay 5-8 blotched, olive green eggs in a large, domed stick nest; breeds in colonies in tall trees usually so overgrown with mistletoe that it is often hard to detect the nests.
  
Voice: A raucous qua-qua-qua and a querulous quack.
+
==References==
 +
#{{Ref-Clements6thAug14}}#{{Ref-HBWVol14}}#The website of everything
 +
{{ref}}
 +
https://ebird.org/species/yebmag
  
Nesting: 5-8 blotched, olive green eggs in a large, domed stick nest; breeds in colonies in tall trees usually so overgrown with mistletoe that it is often hard to detect the nests.
 
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
 
{{GSearch|Pica+nuttalli}}
 
{{GSearch|Pica+nuttalli}}
  
[[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Incomplete]] [[Category:Pica]]
+
[[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Pica]]

Latest revision as of 04:43, 28 March 2025

Photo by Doug Greenberg
Paso Robles, California, USA, October 2004
Pica nuttalli

Identification

Length 43-54 cm; weight 151-189 g (male), 126-158 g (female)
Yellow bill and bare yellow area of skin behind eye. Large white wing patches and long, wedge-shaped, iridescent greenish-black tail.
Juvenile has blackish beak and lacks bare face patch.

Similar Species

A slightly smaller version of the Black-billed Magpie. Ranges of the two species do not overlap.

Distribution

Photo by Phil Juvet
Sacramento Mather Airport, California, July 2013

Resident in the Central Valley of California and adjacent foothills.
A restricted-range species, prior to 2004 locally common or abundant. The West Nile virus has reduced the population by around 50%.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].

It is closely related to Black-billed Magpie and may even be conspecific with the latter.

Habitat

Oak savannas, oak woods, riverside growth, ranches, and suburbs. With the loss of natural habitats, they have moved to vacant city weedy yards and lots.

Behaviour

A strongly colonial species, they live communally throughout the year, feeding, socializing, and mobbing predators. It has become a city bird but avoids heavily populated areas. However, in some places they obviously do not mind people at all.

Diet

Omnivorous. Feeds on insects, mice, bird eggs, nestlings, small reptiles, carrion (especially roadkill) and human handouts.

Vocalisation

A rising, at times "mag-mag-mag!", or a"quaaa!". Can be heard with a whining "maaag" call.

Breeding

Breeding season from December to May. They lay 5-8 blotched, olive green eggs in a large, domed stick nest; breeds in colonies in tall trees usually so overgrown with mistletoe that it is often hard to detect the nests.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. 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
  3. The website of everything

Recommended Citation

https://ebird.org/species/yebmag

External Links

Back
Top