Yellow-billed Magpie

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Corvidae
Genus:	Pica
Species:	nuttalli

Binomial name

Pica nuttalli

The Yellow-billed Magpie, Pica nuttalli, is a large bird in the crow family only found in California. Apart from its bill and yellow around the eye, it is virtually identical to the European Magpie Pica pica though the latest genetic testing seems to indicate a closer relationship to the American Black-billed Magpie P. hudsonia than to the outwardly very similar European Magpie P. pica.

This bird prefers groves of tall trees along rivers and near open areas. A pair of birds builds a dome-shaped nest with sticks and mud on a high branch. They nest in small colonies. These birds are permanent residents and do not usually wander far outside of their breeding range.

These birds forage on the ground, mainly eating insects, especially grasshoppers, but also carrion, acorns and fruit in fall and winter.

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