Azure-winged Magpie
Cyanopica cyanus
A sleek, long-tailed crow relative--social, highly vocal, and conspicuous in parks, gardens, orchards, riparian areas, and forests. All plumages unmistakable, with black crown, brown back, pale gray belly, and powder-blue wings and tail. Gives raucous, screeching calls as it moves about and is often heard before it is seen.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Cyanopica cyanus
- Authority
- (Pallas, 1776)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
- Genus
- Cyanopica
Range and habitat
It occurs over a large region of eastern Asia in China, Korea, Japan, and north into Mongolia and southern Siberia. The Iberian magpie from southwestern and central parts of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain and Portugal was formerly thought to be conspecific, but recent genetic analysis has shown them to be distinct at species level.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Often azure-winged magpies find food as a family group or several groups making flocks of up to 70 birds. The largest groups congregate after the breeding season and throughout the winter months. Their diet consists mainly of acorns (oak seeds) and pine nuts, extensively supplemented by invertebrates and their larvae, soft fruits and berries, and also human-provided scraps in parks and towns.<p>This species usually nests in loose, open colonies with a single nest in each tree. There are usually 6–8 eggs that are incubated for 15 days. Azure-winged magpies that have asynchronous broods, creating a size hierarchy among nestlings, produce more eggs and fledge more nestlings than those which have synchronous broods.<p>The voice is a quick fired and metallic sounding kwink-kwink-kwink usually preceded by a single krarrah.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous-breasted Warbling Finch
Poospiza rubecula
Rare and endangered bird found at high elevations in the western Andes of northern and central Peru. Note the black mask and the reddish-orange eyebrows, throat, and breast. Similar to Rufous-browed Hemispingus of the eastern Andes, but eyebrows are shorter and connect over the bill. Young birds mostly lack the mask and eyebrow and are heavily streaked below. Inhabits scrub and stunted woodland.
Scaled Fruiteater
Ampelioides tschudii
Chunky, short-tailed, flat-headed bird patterned in mossy green and black. Scaly above and below with broad green wingbar and black cap. Female has less black in plumage than male, but still distinctively scaly. Unobtrusive, often perching inconspicuously in the middle or upper levels of Andean cloud forest. Most often seen around a fruiting tree; occasionally follows mixed-species flocks. Listen for loud descending whistle.
Vietnamese Cutia
Cutia legalleni
A bulky, heavyset bird with a murderous-looking hooked bill. Very similar in appearance to Himalayan Cutia, but ranges do not overlap. Male has blue-gray crown and wing patch, midnight-black mask, orange back and rump, and black-barred white underparts. Female of southern population is much duller, with a dark brown head and streaked brown back. (Northern female has not yet been described.) Inhabits both broadleaved and coniferous hill forest. Moves sluggishly, often in mixed flocks. Song is loud and repetitive, consisting of somewhat twangy whistles and more fluid, warbled notes.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.