Black-billed Magpie

The Black-billed Magpie is a large, unmistakable corvid with bold black-and-white plumage, a black head, breast, and back contrasting with white shoulders and belly, and an exceptionally long, wedge-shaped tail that makes up more than half its total length. In good light, the black wings and tail flash iridescent green, blue, and purple.

This species is one of the most recognizable birds of the open western interior, often seen in small flocks along roadsides, ranches, and rangeland, and is known for building unusually large, domed stick nests.

Key Field Marks

• Bold black-and-white pattern: black head, breast, back, and long tail with white belly and shoulder patches
• Extremely long, graduated tail, over half the total body length
• Iridescent green-blue-purple sheen on wings and tail in good light
• Black bill

Similar Species

• Yellow-billed Magpie looks nearly identical but has a yellow bill and bare yellow skin around the eye, and is found only in California's Central Valley and nearby foothills, with no range overlap with the Black-billed Magpie.

Habitat

Black-billed Magpies favor open country including sagebrush steppe, rangeland, agricultural areas, and riparian corridors with scattered trees for nesting.

Range

Found across the interior western United States and western Canada, from the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin north into Alaska, generally absent from the Pacific coast and eastern half of the continent.

Migration

This species is largely non-migratory, remaining resident year-round, though it may wander locally outside the breeding season.

Behavior

Black-billed Magpies are social, often forming small flocks outside the breeding season, and are known for mobbing predators and scavenging at carcasses, sometimes picking ticks and insects off the backs of large mammals like deer and cattle.

Voice

Calls include a harsh, nasal mag or a chattering series of quick notes, often described as a rapid mag-mag-mag.

Feeding

Diet is highly varied, including insects, carrion, small mammals and reptiles, eggs and nestlings of other birds, seeds, and fruit.

Nesting

Pairs build an unusually large, domed stick nest with a side entrance, often reused and added to over multiple years; the female incubates 6-9 greenish, brown-spotted eggs.