Eurasian Magpie

Characteristics

A bird smaller than a crow. Its head and belly are black like a crow, but its belly is white and its tail has a beautiful gradation from dark blue to blue-green. Looking down from the top of a tree or telephone pole, or getting down on the ground and walking. It has movements that are very similar to those of the Onaga. In Japan, it breeds mainly in the farmlands of the Saga Plain. These individuals are believed to have been introduced artificially from the Korean Peninsula in the 17th century.

Calls

It cries "kyo-kyo-kyo" and "kasha-kasha-kasha" in a muddy, machine-like voice. When I was looking for a magpie, I imagined that he would make a call similar to that of a reed magpie. Although it doesn't actually sound like the cry of the crow, the muddy and slightly noisy voice peculiar to the crow family can be understood in some ways.

Ecology

It lives on trees in farmlands and urban areas. They do not form large flocks, but live in pairs or with a small number of juveniles. When I discovered them in Omuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture, they were singing in pairs. They eat insects, seeds, and grains. It has been valued as a beneficial bird because it eats locusts in farmlands. It breeds by building nests on trees 8m or more in height or on utility poles. Magpies are also highly intelligent and were the first birds to pass the mirror test. Observing human movements.

Habitat

Found in Omuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture. At first I thought it was a crow perched on a telephone pole, but I realized it was a magpie because of its white belly. Looking only at the head, it looks very much like a crow.

When I was walking around the city for further observation, I heard a cry I had never heard before, and when I looked up, I saw a magpie on the roof of a house. They ate the seeds picked from the ground by going back and forth between utility poles and gardens in the housing complex.