Azure-winged Magpie

Azure-winged Magpie
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae Genus: Cyanopica Species: cyana
Binomial name
Cyanopica cyana

The Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyana) is similar in overall shape to the European Magpie (Pica pica) but is a more slender bird with proportionately smaller legs and bill. It has a glossy black top to the head and a white throat. The underparts and the back are a light grey-fawn in colour with the wings and the long tail feathers a beautiful azure blue.

It occurs in two population groups separated by a huge geographical region between. One population lives in western Europe, specifically the south western part of the Iberian peninsula, in Spain and Portugal. The other population occurs over a much larger region of eastern Asia in most of China, Korea, Japan, and north into Mongolia. It inhabits various types of coniferous and deciduous forest including parks and gardens in the eastern populations.

Often food is found as a family group or several groups making flocks of up to 30 birds and consists of many invertebrates and their larvae, soft fruits and berries and human scraps in parks and towns.

Usually nests in loose, open colonies with a single nest in each tree. There are usually between 6-8 eggs that are incubated for 15 days.

The voice is a quick fired and metallic sounding kwink-kwink-kwink usually preceeded by a single "krarrah".