Azure-winged Magpie
Cyanopica cyanus
Also known as: Azure-winged Blue Magpie, Grey Magpie
The Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) is a slender, long-tailed member of the crow family found across East Asia. It has a glossy black cap, pale grey-buff body and soft azure-blue wings and tail. Noisy and sociable, it moves through woodland, parks and gardens in restless family flocks.
Azure-winged Magpie Quick Facts
Frequently Asked Questions About the Azure-winged Magpie
Look for a black cap that reaches below the eye, a white throat, a grey-buff body and pale azure-blue wings with a long blue tail.
The magpies found in Spain and Portugal are now treated as a separate species, the Iberian Magpie (Cyanopica cooki). The Azure-winged Magpie is found in East Asia.
It is an omnivore, eating insects and their larvae along with fruit, berries, seeds and nuts. It often forages in small, noisy flocks.
It builds a cup-shaped nest of twigs lined with softer material in trees or shrubs, often in loose colonies close to other pairs.
A typical clutch contains five to eight eggs, which are incubated for around 15 days.
It is classed as Least Concern. It adapts well to parks and gardens and remains common across much of its range.
The Azure-winged Magpie is usually highly social; family flocks and cooperative breeding.
The Azure-winged Magpie is typically diurnal.
The Azure-winged Magpie is resident.
The main threats facing the Azure-winged Magpie include Nest predation and Local habitat loss.
The Azure-winged Magpie population trend is currently stable.
Well-known places to look for the Azure-winged Magpie include Temple of Heaven Park, Beijing, Summer Palace, Beijing, and Olympic Forest Park, Beijing.
Natural predators of the Azure-winged Magpie include Goshawks, Sparrowhawks, Snakes (eggs and chicks), and Weasels (eggs and chicks).
A familiar bird of Beijing's parks and courtyards, known in Chinese as the 'grey magpie' (灰喜鹊).
The Azure-winged Magpie is part of the Corvidae family and a Passeriformes order.
The Azure-winged Magpie weighs about 0.075 kg, reaches about 34 cm in length, and has a wingspan of about 40 cm.
