Memorable Magpies

When I lived in Colorado, magpies were a familiar sight.  The species I saw in Colorado is actually the black-billed magpie and a member of the crow family.  Its coloring is not all that spectacular with its black and white 'tuxedo' look, although it does have some iridescence on its wings.  Magpies are known as one of the most intelligent birds in the world and the only known species of bird that recognizes itself in the mirror (for more on that click here).  It is one of only four birds found in North America whose tail makes up half or more of its body length.  It is an opportunistic feeder and eats just about anything including insects, rodents, fruit, eggs, nuts, and carrion.  And like starlings and jays it will also take advantage of any pet food left outside.

Black-billed magpie   Source:  Wikipedia

We don't have magpies in the east.  They only live in the western U.S., but much further east the magpie is much more exotic looking.  Like in Taiwan!  The Taiwan Blue Magpie is also known as the Formosan Blue Magpie and as its name implies, it is a gorgeous shade of blue and a tail even longer than the black-billed.

Source:  Wikipedia

The Sri Lanka magpie is even more colorful.

Source:  Wikipedia

Not a fan of blue?  Magpies also come in a lovely shade of green - as in the Common Green Magpie found in Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo and the lower Himalayas.

Source:  Wikipedia

Magpies also come in a smaller version, like the Indochinese Green or Yellow-Breasted Magpie.  This name confuses me because it doesn't look like it has a yellow breast and looks more blue than green.  Even though magpies are in the crow family, they are also related to jays which definitely shows in this species (as well as in the striped tail under feathers of the Common Green above).

Source:  Wikipedia

Even though these other magpies are more colorful, I still have fond memories of the more staid  magpies in Colorado.  They are more sedate and formal. 

Yet another species of magpie is the Javan green or short-tailed magpie from Borneo and Java.  To see a video, click here.  Magpies can also learn to talk like parrots.  To see 'Rooney', click here.  For more on bird intelligence in general, you can visit my 'Birdbrain?  Balderdash' post.