Indochinese Green-Magpie
Cissa hypoleuca
A loud, fluorescent green bird of tropical evergreen forests, usually found in small and medium-sized flocks. Adult is vivid green with a black mask, bright cinnamon flight feathers, and a cherry-red bill. Southern populations in Southeast Asia have a yellow breast and belly; Chinese birds have completely green underparts. Despite bright colors, can be difficult to see in the canopy; most easily seen as it sails through gaps in the foliage. Vocalizations incorporate ringing whistles, rasping notes, screeches, and noisy chattering.
Taxonomy
The Indochinese green magpie was firstly described in 1885 by Salvadori, AT and Giglioli, EH. The genus Cissa includes 3 other short-tailed magpies species: The common green magpie (Cissa chinensis), the Javan green magpie (Cissa thalassina), and the Bornean green magpie (Cissa jefferyi). The name Cissa is derived from the Ancient Greek kissa which means a "jay" or "magpie" and the genus was discovered by Friedrich Boie in 1826. They all look very similar with their green plumage, iridescent red bill and black mask. They are part of the Corvidae family with crows, ravens, jays, amongst many others. As a perching bird, it is in the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species.<p>There are five subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Cissa hypoleuca
- Authority
- Salvadori & Giglioli, 1885
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
- Genus
- Cissa
Range and habitat
The yellow-breasted magpie can be found in moist forests within the tropical and subtropical regions of their distribution. Due to their bright green plumage, they can be seen easily when jumping from branch to branch in foliage. Therefore this is why they mainly occur in the tree canopies of forests, as this camouflages their green plumage better, protecting them from predation.<p>They are native to Asia, and can be found in China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. They can tolerate altitudes of up to 1500 meters and they span over a region of about 1,920,000 km2. They stay in these areas all year long and do not migrate.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
This passerine bird is very loud and loves to hang out in the foliage of its forest habitat. They have been spotted alone, in pairs, or in small groups. They can be sometimes seen in mixed flocks with laughingthrushes (Garrulax leucolophus) and drongos. The Indochinese green magpie does not migrate and stays in its native range. It has a mainly carnivorous diet and eats lot of different things. An adult Indochinese green magpie once lived for 18 years in captivity. When hunting their prey, they stalk it, corner it and then the male will make the kill.<p>Much like other corvids, the Indochinese green magpie is a songbird and has a very good and precise control of its syrinx. It can produce sounds like noisy chattering, rasping notes, screeches, and ringing whistles. They can generate high-pitched series of notes that sounds like "po-puueeee-chuk", followed by lower pitched "eeeoooeeep groak".<p>The yellow-breasted magpie can eat a lot of different things, as it is carnivorous. Its diet includes small frogs, insects, eggs of snakes and lizards, and nestlings. The insects from its diet eat a lot of lutein-rich plants, which is a yellow carotenoid pigment. This component is what makes the birds from the Cissa genus go from blue to bright green. Malnourished birds can be found to be more of a blue color due to the lack of the lutein pigment, since its body does not produce it.<p>The month of May appears to be the month when their breeding is recorded. They were found to lay approximately 4 eggs in captivity. They place their nest hidden in a tree at a height of two to three meters above the ground. Their nest resembles a bowl made of small branches. Its generation length is of 6.7 years.
Conservation
The Indochinese green magpie has been assessed to be of least concern in 2016 by the IUCN red list. Its current population trend is declining, but the decline is not pronounced enough for them to be considered vulnerable. The decline is caused partially by habitat destruction in Hainan. Another reason would be that the Indochinese green magpie is targeted in the illegal pet trade. Its bright and beautiful colors often makes it an ideal exotic pet, especially as it is very appreciated by birdwatchers. It is difficult to gauge the concurrent status of conservation of the Indochinese green magpie as we have not been able to quantify its global population size.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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