The study also found that magpies in Korea (described as P.

bottanensis – Delessert, 1840: west central China (now considered a separate species, the black-rumped magpie)Īn analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2003 confirmed that the black-billed magpie and the yellow-billed magpie were closely related to each other.

serica – Gould, 1845: east and south China, Taiwan, north Myanmar, north Laos and north Vietnam (now considered a separate species, the Oriental magpie) asirensis – Bates, 1936: southwest Saudi Arabia (now considered a separate species, the Asir magpie) mauritanica – Malherbe, 1845: North Africa (Morocco, northern Algeria and Tunisia) (now considered a separate species, the Maghreb magpie) Others now considered as distinct species: camtschatica – Stejneger, 1884: northern Sea of Okhotsk, and Kamchatka Peninsula in Russian Far East leucoptera – Gould, 1862: southeast Russia and northeast China bactriana – Bonaparte, 1850: Siberia east to Lake Baikal, south to Caucasus, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia and Pakistan pica – (Linnaeus, 1758): British Isles and southern Scandinavia east to Russia, south to Mediterranean, including most islands fennorum – Lönnberg, 1927: northern Scandinavia and northwest Russia The International Ornithological Congress recognises six subspecies (a seventh, P. The gradual clinal variation over the large geographic range and the intergradation of the different subspecies means that the geographical limits, and acceptance of the various subspecies, vary between authorities. In 2000, the American Ornithologists' Union decided to treat the black-billed magpie as a separate species based on studies of the vocalization and behaviour that indicated that the black-billed magpie was closer to the yellow-billed magpie ( Pica nuttalli) than to the Eurasian magpie. The Eurasian magpie is almost identical in appearance to the North American black-billed magpie ( Pica hudsonia) and at one time the two species were considered to be conspecific. Pica is the Classical Latin word for this magpie. The magpie was moved to a separate genus Pica by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. In 1758 Linnaeus included the species in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Corvus pica. The magpie was described and illustrated by Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in his Historiae animalium of 1555.

6.1 Traditions, symbolism, and reputation.

It is the only bird known to pass the mirror test, along with very few other non-avian species. The expansion of its nidopallium is approximately the same in its relative size as the brain of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and humans. The Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds, and it is believed to be one of the most intelligent of all non-human animals. In Europe, 'magpie' is used by English speakers as a synonym for the Eurasian magpie: the only other magpie in Europe is the Iberian magpie ( Cyanopica cooki), which is limited to the Iberian Peninsula. It is one of several birds in the crow family (corvids) designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of ' monochrome' magpies. The Eurasian magpie or common magpie ( Pica pica) is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of the Eurasian continent. Light red: Black-rumped magpie ( Pica bottanensis) Pink: Eurasian magpie ( Pica pica leucoptera)ĭark blue: Kamchatkan magpie ( Pica pica camtschatica) Yellow: Russian magpie ( Pica pica bactriana) Light green: European magpie ( Pica pica pica)ĭark green: Northern magpie ( Pica pica fennorum)

Light blue: Iberian magpie ( Pica pica melanotos) Orange: Maghreb magpie ( Pica mauritanica) Global range of the Eurasian magpie and its subspecies.ĭark grey: Arabian Magpie ( Pica asirensis)

Pica pica store