by Doug Becker
The beautiful Black-billed Magpie is in the family of crows, jays and ravens, known as the Corvids. They’re smart, social, entertaining, and have a dubious reputation for making trouble. The Black-billed Magpie appears to be a striking black and white, but their wings and tail are actually an iridescent blue-green. Their head is black. Two broad white stripes run down their back and are sometimes called “backpack straps”. These stripes go over the iridescent wings and match his bright white belly. The tips of their wings are white and provide the perfect flash when in flight. This Magpie is nearly the size of a crow, and sports a long diamond-shaped tail. All together, this is one distinctive and beautiful bird common throughout our West. The Black-billed Magpie’s range is from southern Alaska, through southern Canada and throughout the western United States.
Black-billed Magpies have a wide-ranging diet. They will forage on the ground for grasshoppers and beetles. Wild fruits and grains are on the menu. Groups of Magpies will also kill small animals like squirrels and voles for an afternoon lunch. Raiding nests for eggs and chicks is common and carrion stays high on the menu as Magpies will group up to steal meat from the efforts of foxes and coyotes. Even roadkill is a prized meal, especially with maggots. Large animals, like cows or moose, can be seen with Magpies on their backs picking out ticks. As human associates, they will follow farmers or hunters in wait of good eats for the day. Magpies always followed the Indians to their buffalo hunting grounds and even Lewis and Clack wrote about these bold birds following them and getting into their tents! These remarkable birds are social, uninhibited, loud and raucous, bold and very curious. I suggest YOU keep your tent zipper closed and picnic table well-guarded or those potato chips will soon go missing!
A reputation for finding shiny things to play with and bring back to the nest has been proven to be not true. Shiny or dull makes no difference. Magpies are just smart and curious and will examine and fool around with anything that interests them. They will also be friendly with people if there is a friendly routine that has to do with food. Further, if a person is seen as an intruder, a Magpie will remember him and dive bomb that person whenever the opportunity develops. Crows and Ravens are among the smartest creatures on earth, and Magpies are in their family. They can be loud and obnoxious, and beautiful and entertaining. I’m entertained!
Black-billed Magpies are not a deep-forest bird. Open spaces are preferred. In fact, Magpies are attracted to areas of human development like farming and stockyards, grain elevators, even the ‘burbs where fast-food leftovers are plentiful. Nesting always takes place near their best food source. Magpies mate for life, and thank goodness, because it takes nearly two months for a pair to build their giant nest…each year! Every year they abandon their nest and leave the old home empty. Research believes this is a way to protect themselves from predators. The nest is obvious at an average 30 inches high and 20 inches wide with a domed top. Made of mostly mud and sticks, the male provides the outside sticks while the female makes a mud cup lined with grass inside the nest for the fledglings. Black-billed Magpies breed in early April with a clutch of 5-8 eggs. With all this to do, and as smart as they are, it’s no wonder they’re a “helper bird.” This means family members from previous broods, or neighboring Magpies help with nest building, feeding, and posting lookouts for dangerous predators. Can’t beat having it all in the family!
Magpies are loaded with interesting behavior. For example, when a Magpie is found dead by another, he will cry out as loud as possible until a flock of up to 40 shows up. Then they hang around the deceased for 10-15 minutes making loud cries before flying off in silence. Although it looks like a funeral, research finds this act more of a way of establishing a new dynamic within the flock.
Legends, stories and myths have always followed the Magpies. Seeing Magpies brings good luck sometimes, or bad luck other times. Some people hate them, while others love their beauty and cleverness. They are loud and bossy, curious and smart. My suggestion is to get out those binoculars and enjoy them and the spectacle they create! After all, they are in the Corvid family. So, what should we expect?
