By Mariano Gómez · Updated on 8 October 2026

Birds

Eurasian Magpie, the black-and-white corvid that recognises itself in the mirror

Pica picaHear its song0:32

Photo gallery of the Eurasian Magpie

Identification of the Eurasian Magpie

It is one of the best-known species of Spanish fauna, not only for its unmistakable appearance, but also for its far from discreet habits and its ability to settle in highly transformed habitats, including the interior of large cities. Medium-sized among the corvids, it wears a striking and characteristic black-and-white plumage, which takes on lovely iridescence in different areas, above all in the tail feathers.

When it moves it is easily identified, besides its colour pattern, by its characteristic silhouette and by an undulating flight, during which it beats its wings jerkily. It is extremely intelligent: to date it is the only bird that has proved able to recognise its own image in a mirror.

Adult

• Black-and-white plumage, with iridescence above all in the tail.
• Characteristic silhouette and undulating flight.

Habitat and distribution of the Eurasian Magpie

Extraordinarily adaptable and successful, it is a species spread across the whole northern hemisphere, from which it is absent only in the most extreme regions; its tolerance lets it settle from the Maghreb to central Asia or northern Scandinavia. Numerous subspecies are recognised.

In Spain it is distributed over practically the whole Peninsula, where it is one of the commonest and most widespread species. It is absent from both archipelagos and the North African towns. It is particularly abundant in the northern half, while the lowest densities are recorded in the Levante Mediterranean strip, Cádiz, Málaga and the Guadalquivir valley, areas in which it may be wholly absent. The subspecies «melanotos» is present in Spain.

It bases its strength on an adaptable, eclectic character: it settles in a great variety of habitats, except dense forests and high mountains. It reaches its best densities in farming regions, with woodlots, riverside groves and isolated trees, on the outskirts of inhabited areas and in some urban parks.

At all times and throughout its range it is strictly sedentary. Once the young become independent, its dispersal capacity is low: it rarely makes movements beyond a 50-kilometre radius.

Etymology of the Eurasian Magpie

In other languages it is called «garsa comuna» in Catalan, «pega rabilonga» in Galician, «mika arrunta» in Basque and «Eurasian magpie» in English¹. The subspecies «melanotos» is present in Spain.

Population of the Eurasian Magpie

In the 2021 European Red List of Birds, the European breeding population is estimated at between 19,300,000 and 31,300,000 mature individuals, with a stable trend. In Spain, the breeding population in 2014–2018 was estimated at around 3,000,000 individuals, with the highest abundances in Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia and Aragón. The Magpie seems to have expanded and increased in abundance at the end of the last century, and then entered a phase of moderate decline in recent decades.

Given its abundance and great adaptability, it has no particular conservation problems. In the past it was relentlessly persecuted, accused of harming game species (a point never conclusively proved) and of plundering crops and sown fields. Today the pressure is much lower, but countless cases of nest destruction and shooting still occur, and poison is used illegally to control its numbers.

Nest of the Eurasian Magpie

The pair makes the nest at the end of March or beginning of April, in a great variety of sites: from large trees to thorny bushes and electricity pylons. It is a careful, solid construction, made of sticks, roots and other materials, reinforced with mud. The inside of the cup is lined with moss, wool, plant fibres, feathers and, at times, brightly coloured or shiny objects. Some of these platforms are also given a framework of twigs like a parasol.

Courtship and breeding of the Eurasian Magpie

In our territory, the breeding cycle begins at the end of March or the beginning of April. Laying usually starts in mid-April and consists of between five and eight greenish-blue eggs, heavily speckled. Incubation is carried out by the female alone and lasts 21 or 22 days; then the chicks hatch and are tended by both parents. The fledglings leave the nest after 24–32 days, but remain dependent on parental care for some weeks more. It lays a single clutch a year, although it may lay replacement clutches if the first fails.

Diet of the Eurasian Magpie

Opportunism and great adaptability also show in the complete lack of specialisation in its diet: almost anything edible can form part of its food. Depending on place and season, it eats everything from grain to invertebrates, as well as all kinds of scraps, carrion and fruit. If it gets the chance, it devours the eggs and broods of other birds and hunts small vertebrates, such as reptiles and rodents.

Curious facts about the Eurasian Magpie

It is the most abundant and widespread corvid of the Peninsula. In the past it was heavily persecuted for its supposed harm to game and crops, but it has achieved notable success through its ability to adapt to the most human-altered environments. It is, to date, the only bird that has shown it can recognise its own image in a mirror. The ringed bird that lived longest, shot in Great Britain and Ireland, reached 21 years and 8 months.

The Eurasian Magpie in Cabañeros

The grassland page of this website cites it, together with the Meadow Pipit and the Black Redstart, among the birds of the raña in winter, and describes it as one of the «omnivorous species» of that environment, which join the flocks of seed-eating and insect-eating species.

Where to see the Eurasian Magpie in Cabañeros

On the grasslands and open areas of the raña, above all in winter.

When

All year: it is resident and strictly sedentary.

What time

In good light, scanning the raña and open areas with binoculars.

Where

In fields, woodlots, riverside groves and isolated trees.

What to look for

It is heard before it is seen: a penetrating «chac-chac-chac» and an undulating flight with jerky wingbeats.

Videos of the Eurasian Magpie

Similar species to the Eurasian Magpie

Maghreb Magpie

Pica mauritanica

How to tell them apart

It is similar in song and physical appearance¹.

Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0

Other birds

Bibliography

• Jiménez García-Herrera, José. (2017). Aves de Cabañeros y su entorno. Madrid, Spain: Ecohábitat.
• SEO Birdlife - Sociedad Española de Ornitología
• https://es.wikipedia.org/
• Hume, Rob. (2016). Guía de campo de las Aves de España y Europa. Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Omega