magpie

References dating back to Old English call the bird a "pie," for its piebald coloring (derived from the Latin pica and cognate to French pie); this term has fallen out of use.{{Cite OED|pie|id=143536}} The tendency in previous centuries was to give birds common names, such as robin redbreast (which now is called the robin) and jenny wren. The magpie was originally variously maggie pie and mag pie.{{Cite OED|magpie|id=112371}} The term "pica" for the human disorder involving a compulsive desire to eat items that are not food is borrowed from the Latin name of the magpie, pica, for its reputed tendency to feed on miscellaneous things.{{Cite OED|pica|id=143319}}

According to some studies, magpies do not form the monophyletic group they are traditionally believed to be; tails have elongated (or shortened) independently in multiple lineages of corvid birds.Ericson, Per G. P.; Jansén, Anna-Lee; Johansson, Ulf S. & Ekman, Jan (2005): [http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e32c81078a8d9249800021299/Corvidae%5B1%5D.pdf Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810020048/http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e32c81078a8d9249800021299/Corvidae%5B1%5D.pdf |date=2017-08-10 }} Journal of Avian Biology 36: 222–234. Among the traditional magpies, two distinct lineages apparently exist. One consists of Holarctic species with black and white colouration, and is probably closely related to crows and Eurasian jays. The other contains several species from South to East Asia with vivid colouration, which is predominantly green or blue. The azure-winged magpie and the Iberian magpie, formerly thought to constitute a single species with a most peculiar distribution, have been shown to be two distinct species, and are classified as the genus Cyanopica.Kyukov et al, [https://archive.today/20120703012450/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120712647/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 Synchronic east–west divergence in azure-winged magpies (Cyanopica cyanus) and magpies (Pica pica), Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 42(4): 342-351 (2004)]

Other research has cast doubt on the taxonomy of the Pica magpies, since P. hudsonia and P. nuttalli may not be different species, whereas the Korean race of P. pica is genetically very distinct from the other Eurasian (as well as the North American) forms. Either the North American, Korean, and remaining Eurasian forms are accepted as three or four separate species, or else only a single species, Pica pica, exists.Lee, Sang-im; Parr, Cynthia S.; Hwang, Youna; Mindell, David P. & Choe, Jae C. (2003): [http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/molsys/LPHMC03.pdf Phylogeny of magpies (genus Pica) inferred from mtDNA data.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040504221410/http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/molsys/LPHMC03.pdf |date=2004-05-04 }} Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29: 250–257.

Oriental (blue and green) magpies

• Subfamily Cissinae
• Genus Urocissa
• Taiwan blue magpie, Urocissa caerulea
• Red-billed blue magpie, Urocissa erythroryncha
• Yellow-billed blue magpie, Urocissa flavirostris
• White-winged magpie, Urocissa whiteheadi
• Sri Lanka blue magpie, Urocissa ornata
• Genus Cissa
• Common green magpie, Cissa chinensis
• Indochinese green magpie, Cissa hypoleuca
• Javan green magpie, Cissa thalassina
• Bornean green magpie, Cissa jefferyi

Azure-winged magpies

• Genus Cyanopica
• Azure-winged magpie, Cyanopica cyanus
• Iberian magpie, Cyanopica cooki

Holarctic (black-and-white) magpies

• Genus Pica
• Eurasian magpie, Pica pica
• Black-billed magpie, Pica hudsonia (may be conspecific with P. pica)
• Yellow-billed magpie, Pica nuttalli (may be conspecific with P. (pica) hudsonia)
• Asir magpie, Pica asirensis (may be conspecific with P. pica)
• Maghreb magpie, Pica mauritanica (may be conspecific with P. pica)
• Oriental magpie, Pica serica (may be conspecific with P. pica)
• Black-rumped magpie. Pica bottanensis (may be conspecific with P. pica)

• The black magpies, Platysmurus, are treepies; they are neither magpies, nor as was long believed, jays. Treepies are a distinct group of corvids externally similar to magpies.
• The Australian magpie, Cracticus tibicen, is conspicuously "pied", with black and white plumage reminiscent of a Eurasian magpie. It is a member of the family Artamidae and not a corvid.
• The magpie-robins, members of the genus Copsychus, have a similar "pied" appearance, but they are Old World flycatchers, unrelated to the corvids.

{{See also|Eurasian magpie#Relationship with humans|Black-billed magpie#Relationship with humans}}

Named as official bird of city of Edmonton, AB, CA in May 2025 [https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6757323 per CBC]

In East Asian cultures, the magpie is a very popular bird and is a symbol of good luck and fortune.

The magpie is a common subject in Chinese paintings. It is also often found in traditional Chinese poetry and couplets. In addition, in Chinese folklore, all the magpies of the Qixi Festival every year will fly to the Milky Way and form a bridge, where the separated Cowherd and Weaver Girl will meet. The Milky Way is like a river, and the Cowherd and Weaver Girl refer to the famous α-Aquilae and α-Lyrae of modern Astronomy, respectively. For this reason, the magpie bridge has come to symbolize a relationship between men and women.

Magpies have an important place in the birth myth of Ai Xinjue Luo Bukuri Yushun, the ancestor of the Qing dynasty.

The magpie is a national bird of Korea and a symbol of its capital Seoul.{{Cite web |title=Tree, Flower & Bird - |url=https://english.seoul.go.kr/seoul-views/seoul-symbols/4-tree-flower-bird/ |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=Seoul Metropolitan Government |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-08-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812232538/https://english.seoul.go.kr/seoul-views/seoul-symbols/4-tree-flower-bird/ |url-status=live }}

In European culture, the magpie is reputed to collect shiny objects such as wedding rings and other valuables, a well known example being Rossini's opera La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie). A recent study conducted by Exeter University found that Eurasian magpies express neophobia when presented with unfamiliar objects, and were less likely to approach or interact with the shiny objects - metal screws, foil rings and aluminium foil - used in the experiments.{{Cite news |date=2014-08-16 |title=Magpies 'don't steal shiny objects' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28797519 |access-date=2022-05-02 |archive-date=2023-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605113927/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28797519 |url-status=live }} However, magpies are naturally curious like other members of the corvid family, and may collect shiny objects, but do not favour shiny objects over dull ones.{{Cite web |date=2019-04-15 |title=Do Magpies Like Stealing Shiny Things? |url=https://www.audubon.org/news/do-magpies-stealing-shiny-things |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=Audubon |language=en |archive-date=2022-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520072251/https://www.audubon.org/news/do-magpies-stealing-shiny-things |url-status=live }}

Magpies are common orchard pests in some regions of the world.{{cite web | url=http://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/cherry/Birds/ | title=Birds / Cherry / Agriculture: Pest Management Guidelines | website=UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM) | access-date=2022-06-21 | archive-date=2022-09-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915182739/https://www2.ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/cherry/birds/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Birds on Tree Fruits and Vines Management Guidelines | website=UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM) | date=2005-05-20 | url=http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74152.html | access-date=2022-06-21 | archive-date=2022-06-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621151115/http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74152.html | url-status=live }}

• Magpies are the National bird of Bangladesh.
• In England, magpies were traditionally viewed as omens either of fortune or misfortune, depending upon the number of birds one saw. An English nursery rhyme known as "One for Sorrow" recounts the tradition:

{{blockquote|One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret never to be told.{{cite book|author=P. Tate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OFmORVI7x_EC&dq=%22one+for+sorrow%2C+two+for+joy%22+rhyme+magpie&pg=PT76|title=Flights of Fancy: Birds in Myth, Legend, and Superstition|location=New York|publisher=Random House|year=2010|isbn=978-1409035695}}|sign=|source=}}

John Brand was an English antiquarian and Church of England clergyman, who was appointed Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, in 1784. His book, Observations of Popular Antiquities, (1780), has the first-known record of counting Magpies to predict good or ill-fortune, in the description, and records only four lines:

"One for sorrow,

Two for mirth,

Three for a funeral,

And four for a birth".

Popular antiquities later became known as folklore, (a term coined by William John Thoms in 1846).

In that year, the rhyme was added to Proverbs and Popular Sayings of the Seasons, by Michael Aislabie Denham, an English merchant and collector of folklore. The following lines were added:-

"Five for heaven,

Six for hell,

Seven for the devil, his own self".

Sir Humphry Davy attributed the connection for the feeling of one, then two magpies to joy and sorrow in his, Salmonia : or Days of Fly Fishing, (1828); he wrote:

"For anglers in spring it is always unlucky to see single magpies, but two may be always regarded as a favourable omen; and the reason is, that in cold and stormy weather one magpie alone leaves the nest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs or the young ones; but when two go out together, it is only when the weather is warm and mild, and thus favourable for fishing."{{cite book |last=Paris |first=John Ayrton |date=1831 |title=The Life of Sir Humphry Davy: Volume I |location=London |publisher=H. Colburn and R. Bentley |page=468}}

• In sports, some teams that wear black and white striped kits are nicknamed the magpies, such as Newcastle United and Notts County from England. {{Cite news |last=Spiers |first=Tim |title=Villans, Cherries, Toffees and Tractor Boys: The origins of English football club nicknames |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5753588/2024/09/09/english-football-nicknames-premier-league/#:~:text=The%20club's%20official%20nickname%20is,in%20the%201970s%20and%201980s. |access-date=2024-10-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=NOTTINGHAM COUNTY – whatsbehindthebadge |url=https://whatsbehindthebadge.com/index.php/nottingham-county/ |access-date=2024-10-13 |language=en-US}}

Thimindu 2010 02 20 Sinharaja Sri Lanka Blue Magpie 1.jpg|Sri Lanka blue magpie

Cissa hypoleucor concolor qtl1.jpg|Indochinese green magpie

Blauelester donana.jpg|Iberian magpie

Pica nuttalli.jpg|Yellow-billed magpie

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{ cite journal | last1=Song | first1=S. | last2=Zhang | first2=R. | last3=Alström | first3=P. | last4=Irestedt | first4=M. | last5=Cai | first5=T. | last6=Qu | first6=Y. | last7=Ericson | first7=P.G.P. | last8=Fjeldså | first8=J. | last9=Lei | first9=F. | year=2017 | title=Complete taxon sampling of the avian genus Pica (magpies) reveals ancient relictual populations and synchronous Late-Pleistocene demographic expansion across the Northern Hemisphere | journal=Journal of Avian Biology | volume=49 | issue=2 | pages=jav-01612 | doi=10.1111/jav.01612 | doi-access=free }}

• [https://ebird.org/species/eurmag3 Magpie videos, photos and sounds] on eBird

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