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Magpie can reach 16 to 18 inches in length and 7 to 9 ounces of weight.
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Magpie is easily recognized, black-and-white-colored bird. Upper parts of the body and wings are black-colored with iridescent green, purple and blue sheen. Belly, parts of wings, flanks and ramp are covered with white plumage. Males and females look alike.
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Magpie has long, pointed beak, short, rounded wings and long, wedge-shaped tail.
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Magpie is an average flier, but thanks to its long tail it can easily maneuver through the air and rapidly change direction of flight when needed.
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Magpie is an omnivore. It consumes grains, berries, nuts and fruit during the winter, eggs, chicks and rodents during the spring and insects during the summer.
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Magpie is often classified as pest because it often produces damage in the gardens and fields where it searches food.
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According to a popular myth, magpie likes to collect and store shiny objects and jewelry in the nest. Recent scientific studies show that magpie is actually scared of shiny items and that it avoids them.
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Magpie is very intelligent bird and one of the rare animals that can recognize its own image in the mirror (only few apes, bottlenose dolphin and Asian elephant are able to recognize themselves in the mirror).
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Magpie is sedentary bird. It spends most of its life in the radius of 6 miles of the place of birth. Magpie lives in loose flocks during the summer and in large groups of around 200 birds during the winter.
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Group of magpies is called parliament. They communicate with each other via loud rattling calls.
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Natural enemies of magpies are dogs, cats and birds of prey such as goshawks.
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Mating season of magpies takes place during the spring. Magpies are monogamous birds that mate for a lifetime.
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Magpies nest in the trees, or on the ground when trees are not available. Nest can be open or more frequently covered with roof and equipped with two entrances.
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Female lays 5 to 8 eggs that hatch after 3 weeks. Female is responsible for the incubation of eggs, while male provides food for female during this period. Both parents take care of their chicks until they learn to fend for themselves. Young magpies learn to fly at the age of 3 to 4 weeks.
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Magpie can survive around 5 years in the wild.
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