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Field Guide : Black-billed Magpie
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
I’m a huge fan of corvids, the bird family to which jays, magpies, crows, and ravens belong, so I’m always delighted to become acquainted with another member of the clan. Last year, during a summer birding trip to Colorado with a dear friend, I saw black-billed magpies often. The slopes, agricultural plains, and towns on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains are ideal environs for these magpies; they thrive in generally open habitat (with some trees), ranch land, and suburbia. The species is historically associated with the great North American bison herds, but it’s just as happy foraging on ticks and other insects found on the backs of cattle (as well as deer, elk, and moose). Black-billed magpies are also known for following predators like wolves, foxes, and raptors, so that the magpies might steal or scavenge from their kills. They are opportunistic generalists, however, and, like most corvids, their diet is very diverse.
Black-billed magpies are sexually monomorphic birds (species in which both sexes look the same) and monogamous, but ornithologists have made some curious observations about magpie pair-bonding. Some pairs remain mated for life, but “divorce” does occur. That isn’t exceptional among monogamous birds, but researchers have noted regional differences in magpie “divorce” rates; black-billed magpies in North Dakota, for example, have a low “divorce” rate of 8%, whereas magpies in Alberta, Canada, have a 50-63% “divorce” rate! Of the two sexes, female magpies are generally more likely to move on from one pair bond to another. What accounts for these regional differences? Some researchers believe the magpies have developed what might be described as regionally distinct “cultures.” No matter where a magpie lives, though, when it comes to parenting, the sexes both build the nest and feed the young, but the female is responsible for all of the incubation.
Even folks who aren’t much interested in birds may have heard of magpie “funerals.” When a magpie discovers a dead one of its kind, it usually begins to call excitedly. Other magpies in the vicinity respond to the call by flying to it and perching nearby on branches, fences, or other structures. They then start calling loudly themselves. Researchers have documented up to 40 magpies joining in this vocal fray. Once a critical mass has assembled, one or two birds at a time fly down to the corpse, and walk around it while they continue to call, sometimes pecking at the body. The “funeral” continues for 10-15 minutes, and then all the (living) magpies fly away.
The present-day black-billed magpie range extends from southern Alaska, including the Alaska Peninsula, through much of lower Canada, and the interior west of the United States, south to Arizona and New Mexico and east to Wisconsin and Illinois. The black-billed magpie’s distribution once included more of the lower Midwest, but as humans decimated the North American bison herds and magpies came to be seen as pest birds (and were poisoned by farmers), the magpie’s range ebbed in that region. It may yet rebound there.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
I’m a huge fan of corvids, the bird family to which jays, magpies, crows, and ravens belong, so I’m always delighted to become acquainted with another member of the clan. Last year, during a summer birding trip to Colorado with a dear friend, I saw black-billed magpies often. The slopes, agricultural plains, and towns on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains are ideal environs for these magpies; they thrive in generally open habitat (with some trees), ranch land, and suburbia. The species is historically associated with the great North American bison herds, but it’s just as happy foraging on ticks and other insects found on the backs of cattle (as well as deer, elk, and moose). Black-billed magpies are also known for following predators like wolves, foxes, and raptors, so that the magpies might steal or scavenge from their kills. They are opportunistic generalists, however, and, like most corvids, their diet is very diverse.
Black-billed magpies are sexually monomorphic birds (species in which both sexes look the same) and monogamous, but ornithologists have made some curious observations about magpie pair-bonding. Some pairs remain mated for life, but “divorce” does occur. That isn’t exceptional among monogamous birds, but researchers have noted regional differences in magpie “divorce” rates; black-billed magpies in North Dakota, for example, have a low “divorce” rate of 8%, whereas magpies in Alberta, Canada, have a 50-63% “divorce” rate! Of the two sexes, female magpies are generally more likely to move on from one pair bond to another. What accounts for these regional differences? Some researchers believe the magpies have developed what might be described as regionally distinct “cultures.” No matter where a magpie lives, though, when it comes to parenting, the sexes both build the nest and feed the young, but the female is responsible for all of the incubation.
Even folks who aren’t much interested in birds may have heard of magpie “funerals.” When a magpie discovers a dead one of its kind, it usually begins to call excitedly. Other magpies in the vicinity respond to the call by flying to it and perching nearby on branches, fences, or other structures. They then start calling loudly themselves. Researchers have documented up to 40 magpies joining in this vocal fray. Once a critical mass has assembled, one or two birds at a time fly down to the corpse, and walk around it while they continue to call, sometimes pecking at the body. The “funeral” continues for 10-15 minutes, and then all the (living) magpies fly away.
The present-day black-billed magpie range extends from southern Alaska, including the Alaska Peninsula, through much of lower Canada, and the interior west of the United States, south to Arizona and New Mexico and east to Wisconsin and Illinois. The black-billed magpie’s distribution once included more of the lower Midwest, but as humans decimated the North American bison herds and magpies came to be seen as pest birds (and were poisoned by farmers), the magpie’s range ebbed in that region. It may yet rebound there.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.