BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Pica hudsonia
Black-billed Magpie
| Scientific Name: | Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Black-billed Magpie | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117:847-858 | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy Comments: | S and G names changed from PIKA PIKA 00-09-18 to match AOU. | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-BBMA | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | |||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Clutch size usually 5-8. Incubation 16-18 days, by female. Monogamous; often retains mate for several years. Mature in 1 year. Nests in scattered loose colonies. Alberta study indicates that male parental care required for successful rearing of young (Dunn and Hannon 1989). See Reese and Kadlec (1985) for data from Utah. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Usually seen in small family flocks of 6-10 birds; larger flocks may form in winter. Abandoned magpie nests often are used by other bird species as shelter, day-time retreat or nest. May roost communally after breeding season and especially in winter (up to 150 birds in February-March in Alberta, Reebs 1987). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / N / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Wanders outside of normal breeding range in winter. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Open country (including grasslands), open situations with scattered trees, shrubby areas, riparian and open woodland, forest edge and farmlands, in either arid or humid habitats (AOU 1983). Roosts in dense thickets of deciduous trees or scrub, or, especially in north in winter, in dense conifers (Reebs 1987). BREEDING: Usually nests in bushes or trees. Nest may be used in subsequent years. Tends to nest in the same territory in successive years, often with the same mate (Can. J. Zool. 70:633). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Carnivore: Adult, Immature
Frugivore: Adult, Immature Granivore: Adult, Immature Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Insects, carrion, some eggs and young of small birds, mice, snakes, some grain and fruit. Often forages on the ground. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 48/ / 189 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | RESIDENT: in North America, south-coastal and southern Alaska south through western Canada to eastern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, extreme northeastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, western and northeastern Oklahoma, western Kansas; Old World from northern Eurasia south to Mediterranean area, northwestern Africa, Iran, Southeast Asia, Japan. WANDERS: widely. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Dec 22, 1993 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Birkhead, T. R. 1991. The ecology and behavior of black-billed and yellow-billed magpies. Academic Press. 259 pp. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W. Kaiser, M.C.E. McNall and G.E.J. Smith 1997. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 3, Passerines: Flycatchers through Vireos. UBC Press in cooperation with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv. and B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 700pp. |
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Droege, S., and J.R. Sauer. 1990. North American Breeding Bird Survey, annual summary, 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90(8). 22 pp. |
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Dunn, P. O., and S. J. Hannon. 1989. Evidence for obligate male parental care in black-billed magpies. Auk 106:635-644. |
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Enggist-Dublin, P. and T. R. Birkhead. 1992. Differences in the calls of European and North American Black-billed Magpies and the Yellow-billed Magpie. Bioacoustics 4:185-194. |
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Goodwin, D. 1986. Crows of the world. Second edition. Univ. Washington Press. 300 pp. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Linsdale, J.M. 1937. The natural history of magpies. Pacific Coast Avifauna, No. 25. 234 pp. |
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Mugaas, J. N., and J. R. King. 1981. Annual variation of daily energy expenditure by the black-billed magpie. Cooper Ornitholog. Soc. 78 pp. |
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Phillips, A. R. 1986. The known birds of North and Middle America: distribution and variations, migrations, changes, hybrids, etc. Part I, Hirundinidae to Mimidae, Certhiidae. Published by the author, Denver, Colorado. lxi + 259 pp. |
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Reebs, S. G. 1987. Roost characteristics and roosting behavior of black-billed magpies, PICA PICA, in Edmonton, Alberta. Canadian Field-Nat. 101:519-525. |
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Reed, J. A., J. L. Sincock, and J. P. Hailman. 1985. Light attraction in endangered procellariiform birds: reduction by shielding upward radiation. Auk 102:377-383. |
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Reese, K. P., and J. A. Kadlec. 1985. Influence of high density and parental age on the habitat selection and reproduction of black-billed magpies. Condor 87:96-105. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Verbeek, N.A.M. 1973. The exploitation system of the yellow-billed magpie. University of California Publications in Zoology, Vol. 99, University of California Press, Berkeley. |
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Zink, R. M., S. Rohwer, A. V. Andreev, and D. L. Dittman. 1995. Trans-Beringia comparisons of mitochondrial DNA differentiation in birds. Condor 97:639-649. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1993. Species Summary: Pica hudsonia. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Apr 3, 2026).