Bird archives

Chinese name: Magpie

English name: Eurasian Magpie

Introduction to birds:

Magpie (scientific name: Pica pica, English name: Eurasian Magpie), also known as magpie, guest magpie, flying barge bird, dry magpie, goddess, belongs to a genus of Magpie in Ravidae. Magpie is a typical black and white bird, with large body, mostly black feathers and white shoulders and abdomen. Magpies are fierce by nature and are not afraid of raptors. They often drive birds to their own territory, including raptors, and crowd around to bully other birds. Magpies mostly live in human settlements and like to eat grains and insects. Magpie is a euphemism, which is regarded as a symbol of good luck among the people in China. The legend that cowherd and weaver girl meet at the magpie bridge and the custom of drawing magpies for good luck are quite popular among the people. Magpie has a high IQ. According to Wikipedia, the magpie is the only non-mammal that has passed the mirror test (finding that the image in the mirror is itself).

Scientific data

Classification: passeriformes, Corvidae and pica.

Distribution: Breeding place: Palaearctic realm: widely distributed in northwest Africa.

Protection level: China third-class protected birds.

Color characteristics: main feather color: black | black | black; Secondary feather color: white | white

Category information (optional): None.

Appearance characteristics:

Magpies are very big, and their body length can generally reach 45 ~ 50 cm. A typical black-and-white bird, its head, neck, chest, back and waist are all black with a slight blue-purple metallic luster; Shoulder feathers, upper and lower abdomen clean and white; Flying feathers and tail feathers are nearly black and dark green with bright green metallic luster. It can be seen that the end of the wing is white during the flight. In addition, it can be seen that the white feather area on the back of this species has formed a V shape during the flight.

Young bird: Feather color is similar to that of adult bird, but Kuroha is partially dyed brown, and its metallic luster is not obvious.

Iris brown; Black mouth; Feet-black.

Magpie's voice is monotonous "QIA QIA ~ QIA ~". In case of danger, it will give out a continuous and urgent alarm sound of "contact, contact, contact ...".

Discrimination and recognition of similar bird species

The difference between magpies and magpies: in some cities in southern China, magpies are rare, but another bird of passeriformes, Magpie (commonly known as Sixi), is also a black-and-white long-tailed bird (the female magpie is gray, not the black of the male bird), and many people mistake it for magpie. The difference between the two is that:

(1) There is a huge difference between the two somatotypes. The length of a magpie is only about 20 cm, less than half that of a magpie. This is the most obvious identification feature.

(2) Magpie is a bird of Ravidae, which has the same characteristics as many birds of Ravidae: large body and thick mouth. Magpie Magpie obviously has a small mouth.

(3) Although they are all black and white birds, magpies are white with shoulder feathers, and magpies have white spots on their wings.

(4) Magpies are active and like to cock their tails up and down; Magpies don't have this habit.

Living habits:

Magpies are highly adaptable birds. They inhabit mountains and plains, and can be seen in wilderness, farmland, suburbs and cities. But the general rule is that the more human activities, the more magpie population, and it is difficult to see this species in the inaccessible jungle. Magpies often form large groups and move in pairs, foraging in open farmland during the day and perching on tall tree tops at night.

food

Magpies are omnivorous birds and like to eat insects, garbage, plants and other foods. During the breeding period, they prey on small animals such as locusts, crickets, cutworms, scarabs, moth larvae, frogs, etc. They also steal eggs and chicks from other birds and eat fruits, grains and plant seeds. Magpie is a kind of beneficial bird. Because this species and crows of the same family are birds with very diverse feeding habits, the use of drugs to kill rats in many areas often leads to the loss of life of these birds in vain.

Aggressive "hooligans"

Magpies are fierce by nature and dare to drive away raptors for siege. Magpie is a symbol of happiness and auspiciousness in literary works and traditional concepts. But it is notorious in nature and deserves to be called a "super raptor". This fellow has a strong viability and eats everything! Urban and rural areas, high-rise buildings, wetlands and deserts can be seen everywhere. Not only stealing poultry cubs to catch birds, but also natural enemies of squirrel cubs.

Magpies have a strong sense of territory, and they will expel any invading enemy, ranging from two or three to more than a dozen. For owls, eagles, vultures and other large raptors, the strategy of encircling without attacking is often adopted. Large raptors can only choose to be alone if they want to prey on magpies, otherwise they will attack magpies. After fierce fighting, the raptor is likely to be hit hard or even die.

Growth and reproduction:

Magpie breeding began earlier, and in temperate regions, nesting and breeding generally began in early March; In cold areas, breeding usually begins in the middle and late March and lasts until May.

(of birds) nesting

Usually, they nest on tall trees such as pine, poplar, oak, elm, willow and walnut, and sometimes they nest on trees near villages and beside roads, even on high-voltage poles. Nesting is done by both male and female birds. This nest is mainly made of clay made of dead branches. Magpie nests are approximately spherical and have a top cover. The outer layer is dead branches, and the middle is weeds and soil. The inner layer is twigs and dirt, and the inner layer is padded with soft substances such as hemp, fiber, grass roots, moss, animal hair and feathers. The height of the nest from the ground is 7 ~15m, and the size of the nest is 48 ~ 85cm in outer diameter, 0/8 ~ 35cm in inner diameter and 44 ~ 60cm in height. The entrance and exit are oval with a diameter of 9 ~11cm×10 ~15cm, slightly lower than the side opening. The nesting time is 20 ~ 30 days. Magpies build new nests every year. They have the habit of building suspicious nests, that is, building many empty nests around the nests they really use. This behavior may be a coping strategy of other birds to the parasitic behavior of larvae.

lay eggs

After the nest is built, it begins to lay eggs, with 5-8 eggs per nest, sometimes as many as 1 1 egg, 1 day 1 egg, mostly in the early morning. Eggs are light blue-green, blue, gray or grayish white with brown or black spots. The egg is oval or rectangular, with a size of 23 ~ 26 mm× 32 ~ 38 mm, an average of 24.3 mm× 34.5 mm and a weight of 9 ~13 g. After the egg is laid, the egg will hatch and the female will hatch. The incubation period is 17 1 day.

Raising young birds

The chicks mature late, and the newly hatched chicks are naked and pink. Both male and female breed chicks together, and the chicks can leave the nest in about 30 days.

Geographical distribution:

Magpie is a kind of bird widely distributed in the whole northern boundary. This species can be found in most parts of Europe and Asia, as well as in North Africa and western North America. In China, the common subspecies of magpie are widely distributed all over the country. But in some cities in the south of China, magpies and sparrows can be seen everywhere, and gradually disappear after 1980, and some cities even disappear for unknown reasons.

Distribution: Eurasia, North Africa, western Canada and western California.

Distribution: This kind of bird is widely distributed and common in China. It is thought to bring good luck and is usually not killed. Bactria subspecies is distributed in northern and western Xinjiang and northwest Tibet. Bottanensis is located in southern, southeastern and eastern Tibet to western Sichuan and Qinghai; White-winged suborder is located in Hulunchi area in northeast Inner Mongolia. Silk wool can also be found in other parts of China, including Taiwan Province Province and Hainan Island.

Subspecies differentiation

There are many differences among magpie subspecies. Traditionally, magpies distributed in Europe, Asia and North America are all picas of the same species. Recently, however, some scholars believe that the genetic relationship between Magpie subspecies in North America and another magpie distributed in the same area, Magpie with Yellow Mouth, should be independent into Pica nuttalli. Some scholars also pointed out that the magpie common subspecies (Pica pica sericea Gould) widely distributed in East Asia is far from the magpie distributed in Europe and should be classified as one species.

Protection status:

There are three kinds of protected birds in China.

Cultural connotation:

Magpie culture

Magpie, with euphemistic voice, has been welcomed by people since ancient times. "Bird Classic" said: "People are happy to hear its voice". In the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu wrote a poem, praising: "The fresh feathers are bright and colorful, and the red walls are covered with green trees; Warm wind is light, words are soft, and you should report good news to your host. "All the ceramic art works that magpies report good news, disturb spring or homophonic meaning are originated from the traditional Zhenrui theme.

Magpie culture is one of the important symbols of China culture. Legend has it that magpie culture originated in the Spring and Autumn Period in China. However, the magpie pattern on a painted pottery jar of "Liuwan Culture" unearthed in Ledu County, Qinghai Province, China shows that magpie culture did not originate from the Spring and Autumn Period, but from the Qinghai Plateau in primitive society. Magpie culture has continued to this day, permeating almost every aspect of human social life, forming a complete cultural system and becoming an important part of China folk culture. Magpie culture has a wide and profound influence on the social life of China people. Although as a culture, there are various forms of expression, it is basically human beings who give magpies festive, auspicious and auspicious meanings, advocate magpies, and pin their good wishes and emotions on magpies.

Magpie culture caters to the psychological characteristics of human beings since ancient times. In particular, the Chinese nation has long paid attention to celebration, auspiciousness and good luck, which is why magpie culture is very popular in China. Magpie has been a popular bird since ancient times and a symbol of good luck. In rural areas, it is happiest to decorate new houses with cut-and-paste "magpies climbing branches". This is also a very common theme in Chinese painting, which often appears in China's traditional poems and couplets.

Magpie and Legend

People in China think magpie is a symbol of good luck. There are many beautiful myths and legends about it. Legend has it that magpies can bring good news. According to legend, only on the seventh day of July every year will magpies disappear and fly to Tianhe Bridge to meet the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The custom of drawing magpies to express happiness is very popular among the people in China, and there are many varieties: for example, two magpies face to face, which is called "greeting"; Double magpies add an ancient coin called "happiness is in sight"; A badger and a magpie looked from tree to tree and cried happily. The most popular picture is the picture of a magpie climbing a plum branch to report good news, which is also called "beaming"

Scientific research (dispensable): Not yet.

Others:

Magpie and crow

In our daily life, especially in the countryside, we have a lot of contact with birds, so we have different feelings about birds: for example, in "Bird Quotations", magpies say that "it's cloudy to sing, and it's rainy to sing, and people are happy to hear the sound"; On the contrary, crows are very annoying to everyone. As soon as I heard its voice, I spit and stamped my feet, saying that it would cause trouble. Why do you have such a good impression of magpies? Can magpies really report good news? Why do you hate crows so much? And do crows really cause trouble?

Magpie is a common bird, which often appears between the foot of the mountain and the edge of the forest, between trees, roofs and crops around villages or cities. In the early morning, they often fly to open fields and vegetable gardens in pairs or in groups in search of food. They are omnivorous birds. According to the investigation of scientific workers in Nanjing and Hunan, more than 80% of magpies' food in a year is insects that harm crops, such as locusts, grubs, scarabs, moth larvae or pine caterpillars. And 65,438+05% are the seeds of cereals and plants, as well as birds, snails, melons and weeds. So magpies are very beneficial to human beings. Hard-working farmers, working in the fields in the early morning, see magpies jumping in pairs on the grass to chase pests, and will not avoid humans, so they have a love for it, and its loud and monotonous chirping is hailed as a good omen. In the ancient book Miscellanies of Xijing, there is a saying that "dry magpies make trouble and pedestrians arrive", which must be the reason why magpies report good news.

As for crows, like magpies, they belong to passerine crows and are also common birds in plains, agricultural areas, villages and urban forests. During the day, they often feed in groups of three or five, foraging in farmland, grass beaches and garbage dumps beside roads. They have all kinds of eating habits, and some species prefer corpses. According to the investigation of 1956 to 1958 in Changli, Hebei and Beijing suburbs, the proportion of food will be different in different periods. For example, in the spring and summer breeding season with more insects, the staple food is crickets, locusts, scarabs and Lepidoptera, which is beneficial to the growth of crops. When sowing in spring and harvesting in autumn, they went to the fields to look for the grain seeds and seedlings left by the ridge road, which was not harmful and was beneficial to the cleaning work. However, when people hear its harsh and monotonous cry, see its dark feathers hovering around rotten things, or fidget in the tree, giving people an unpleasant feeling, they regard it as an ominous bird. In fact, if we pay attention to the expulsion when sowing in spring, it can also be regarded as an insect-eating bird from its annual feeding habits.

So magpies reporting good news and crows making trouble are all folk superstitions and legends, and there is no scientific basis.

Reference (source):

[1]. Magpie-the infamous "Super Raptor": /posts/40480

[2]. Photography: Magpie and Magpie:/Showtopic-454647.aspx.

[4]. Mirror Test # Bird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_test#Birds