American magpie
The Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia) is a bird in the corvidae family that inhabits the western half of North America. It is one of only four North American songbirds whose tail makes up half or more of the total body length. Historically Black-billed magpies were associated with bison herds but now they land on the backs of cattle to clean ticks and insects from them. They also frequently follow large predators such as wolves and scavenge from their kills.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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OmnivoreAn omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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FlockingFlocking birds are those that tend to gather to forage or travel collectively. Avian flocks are typically associated with migration. Flocking also ...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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Black And White AnimalsThe tail of the Black-billed magpie is made up of long, layered feathers, the middle pair of which protrude farthest of all. The beak is oblong and weakly curved toward the tip. Unlike other members of the Corvidae family, the black-billed magpie is dimorphic in size and weight, though there can be overlap between the sexes. Males are slightly larger and heavier than females. The Black-billed magpie can be distinguished from the similar Yellow-billed magpie by its longer tail and by the color of the beak.
Black-billed magpies occur from Colorado to southern coastal Alaska, to Central Oregon, to northern California, northern Nevada, northern Arizona, northern New Mexico, central Kansas, and Nebraska. In Canada, they are found in far Western Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon. These birds do not migrate and prefer open habitats with clumps of trees. They can therefore be found in grasslands, shrublands, rocky areas, farmlands, and suburban and urban areas.
Black-billed magpies are social and live in family groups of 5-10 individuals. In winter they join other family groups and form communal roosts. Every evening they fly, often in groups and sometimes over long distances, to reach safe roosting sites such as dense trees or shrubs that impede predator movement, or, at higher latitudes, dense conifers that afford good wind protection. At the roosting site, they tend to occupy trees singly; they do not huddle. They sleep with the bill tucked under the wing and back feathers, adopting this position sooner on colder nights. During the night they may also regurgitate, in the form of pellets, the undigested parts of what they ate during the day. Such pellets can be found on the ground and then used to determine at least part of the birds' diet. Black-billed magpies typically forage on the ground, usually walking, sometimes hopping, and sometimes scratching with their feet to turn over ground litter. They communicate using a series of rough, scratchy calls and when threatened utter a shrill scream. They also have a call given in the vicinity of their dead, causing a gathering often referred to as a funeral.
Black-billed magpies are opportunistic omnivores. They eat many types of insects, carrion, seeds, rodents, berries, nuts, eggs, and also garbage and food from pets that are fed outside. Chicks are fed animal matter almost exclusively.
Black-billed magpies are monogamous and form pairs that stay together year-round and often for life unless one dies. The breeding season is generally from late March to early July. Pairs nest individually, frequently toward the top of trees. Both the male and the female build their nest which is a loose but large accumulation of branches, twigs, mud, grass, rootlets, bark strips, vines, needles, and other materials, with branches and twigs constituting the base and framework. The nest cup is lined with fine rootlets, grass, and other soft material. Nests almost always include a hood or dome of loosely assembled twigs and branches and usually have one or more side entrances. The female lays up to 13 eggs, but the usual clutch size is 6 or 7. The eggs are greenish-grey, marked with browns, and 33 mm (about 1.3 inches) long. Only the female incubates, for 16-21 days and the male feeds jer throughout incubation. Hatched young are altricial, brooded by the female but fed by both parents. They fly 3-4 weeks after hatching, feed with adults for about 2 months, and then fly off to join other juvenile magpies. Black-billed magpies breed for the first time at 1 or 2 years of age.
There are no major threats to Black-billed magpies at present. However, a detriment to the overall Black-billed magpie population is toxic chemicals, particularly topical pesticides applied on the backs of livestock. For Black-billed magpies, who sometimes glean ticks off the backs of cattle, this proves a problem.
According to the All About Birds resource, the global breeding population of the Black-billed magpie is 5.4 million individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...