- Pica nuttalli
Identification
16-18" (41-46 cm)
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 Black-billed Magpie. Ranges of the two magpies do not overlap.
Distribution
Resident in California's Central Valley 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's 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 don't mind people at all.
Diet
Omnivorous. Feeds on insects, mice, bird eggs, nestlings, small reptiles, carrion (especially roadkill) and human handouts.
Vocalisation
A raucous qua-qua-qua and a querulous quack.
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
- 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/
- 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
- The website of everything
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Yellow-billed Magpie. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow-billed_Magpie
