Photo:Alexis LoursCC BY 4.0
Upland birds
Eurasian magpie
Pica pica
- Group
- Upland birds
- Size class
- Small (under 10 kg)
- Family
- Corvidae
Range
- Europe
- Asia
Habitat
- Farmland
Range
Countries it is found in
74 countries
- Afghanistan
- Åland Islands
- Albania
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- China
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Faroe Islands
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Guernsey
Range from:Wikipedia country bird lists, GBIF occurrence records — read 2026-08-05
Chapter 01
Overview
The Eurasian or common magpie (Pica pica) is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of Eurasia. It is one of several corvids called magpies and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of 'monochrome' magpies; in Europe, 'magpie' means this bird. Conrad Gessner described and illustrated it in his Historiae animalium of 1555. Linnaeus included it in 1758 as Corvus pica, and Brisson moved it to the genus Pica in 1760 — Pica being the Classical Latin word for the bird.
Chapter 02
Identification
The adult male of the nominate race is 44–46 cm long, more than half of which is tail, with a wingspan of 52–62 cm. Head, neck, breast and vent are glossy black with a metallic green and violet sheen; the belly and scapulars are pure white; the wings are black glossed green or purple, with white inner webs to the primaries.
Chapter 03
Behaviour
Some magpies breed after their first year while others stay in non-breeding flocks and first breed in their second. They are monogamous, pairs often staying together from one season to the next and generally holding the same territory in successive years. Mating takes place in spring, the male's courtship display consisting of rapidly raising and lowering the head feathers. The magpie is omnivorous, taking young birds and eggs, small mammals, insects, scraps and carrion, acorns, grain and other vegetable matter.
Field data
Tracks
A photograph of real sign left by Eurasian magpie. Prints vary with gait, ground and how long they have been there — treat this as one example, not a template.
Track photo:no rights reservedCC0
Sources
Sources: Eurasian magpie — Wikipedia — read 2026-08-05
Cross-reference
Related species
Its closest relatives in the compendium, nearest kinship first.
Upland birds
Eurasian jay
Garrulus glandarius
Same family (Corvidae)
Upland birds
Rook
Corvus frugilegus
Same family (Corvidae)
Upland birds
Hooded crow
Corvus cornix
Same family (Corvidae)
Upland birds
Western jackdaw
Coloeus monedula
Same family (Corvidae)
Upland birds
Carrion crow
Corvus corone
Same family (Corvidae)
Upland birds
Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris
Same order (Passeriformes)