Yellow-billed Magpie

The Yellow-billed Magpie is a strikingly bold black-and-white corvid, essentially a California-endemic counterpart to the Black-billed Magpie, sharing the same long tail and black-and-white pattern but distinguished by a bright yellow bill and a patch of bare yellow skin around the eye.

This species has one of the most restricted ranges of any North American bird, found only in the Central Valley and surrounding foothills of California, nowhere else in the world. Its population suffered a severe crash in the early 2000s due to West Nile virus, from which it is still recovering.

Key Field Marks

• Bold black-and-white pattern identical in layout to Black-billed Magpie
• Bright yellow bill (diagnostic)
• Bare yellow skin patch around the eye
• Long, iridescent black tail

Similar Species

• Black-billed Magpie is essentially identical apart from its black bill and lack of bare yellow eye skin; the two species do not overlap in range, as the Yellow-billed Magpie is restricted to California's Central Valley region.

Habitat

Yellow-billed Magpies favor open oak savanna, grassland with scattered valley oaks, orchards, and agricultural areas with nearby trees for nesting.

Range

This species is endemic to California, found only in the Central Valley and adjacent foothills of the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada, making it one of the most range-restricted birds in North America.

Migration

Yellow-billed Magpies are non-migratory and highly sedentary, often remaining within a few miles of their birthplace for life.

Behavior

Yellow-billed Magpies are social birds that often forage and roost in groups, and are known to form cooperative colonies with several nests clustered in the same or nearby trees, an unusual trait among magpies.

Voice

Calls are similar to the Black-billed Magpie, including a nasal, chattering mag-mag-mag and various harsh notes.

Feeding

Diet includes insects, acorns, small vertebrates such as lizards, and fruit; they often forage on the ground in open fields.

Nesting

Pairs build a large, domed stick nest, sometimes in loose colonies of several nests in nearby trees; the female incubates 5-8 greenish, spotted eggs.