Black Billed Magpie Postcard

The Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia) is a bird in the crow family that inhabits the western half of North America. It is notable for its domed nests, and for being one of only four North American songbirds whose tail makes up half or more of the total body length (the others being the Yellow-billed Magpie, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and the Fork-tailed Flycatcher). Externally, The Black-billed Magpie is almost identical with the European Magpie, Pica pica, and is considered conspecific by many sources. The American Ornithologists' Union, however, splits it as a separate species, Pica hudsonia, on the grounds that its mtDNA sequence is closer to that of California's Yellow-billed Magpie, Pica nuttalli, than to the European Magpie. If this view is correct, the Korean subspecies of the European Magpie, Pica pica sericea, should also be considered a separate species. It appears that after the ancestral magpie spread over Eurasia, the Korean population became isolated, at which point the species crossed the Bering Land Bridge and colonized North America, where the two American magpies then differentiated. Fossil evidence indicates that the ancestral North American magpie had arrived in its current range around the mid-Pliocene (3-4 mya) and that the Yellow-billed Magpie lineage split off rather soon thereafter due to the Sierra Nevada uplift and the beginning ice ages. A comparatively low genetic difference, however, suggests that some gene flow between the Black-billed and Yellow-billed magpies still occurred during interglacial periods until the Pleistocene. The adult Black-billed Magpie is 45–60 cm (18–24 in) long and weighs 145-210 g (5-7.5 ounces). Males are generally 6-9% larger and 16-20% heavier than females. The tail is long and makes up half of the bird's length. Wingspan is about 60 cm (24 in). The bird is black with white shoulders, a white belly, and iridescent dark blue-green wings and tail. There are large white markings on the primaries, clearly visible in flight. The feet and bill are black. Black-billed Magpies range in the north from coastal southern Alaska, central British Columbia, and the southern halves of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, through the Rocky Mountains down south to all the Rocky Mountain states including New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and some bordering states as well. The range extends as far east as Minnesota and Iowa, but is thought to be limited further east by high temperature and humidity. Black-billed Magpies frequent open country with thickets and scattered trees, especially riparian groves. They can be found within cities and suburbs as well. The most common calls of this bird are a nasal inquisitive "mag mag mag" or "yak yak yak", uttered in a much higher pitch than the European Magpie's. Many other calls also exist, such as begging calls by females to their mate or by young to their parents, and distress calls when seized by predators.