Black Magpie Platysmurus leucopterus Scientific name definitions

The Black Magpie is an intriguing bird found in Sundaic lowland forests from the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. An observer’s attention is usually drawn first by groups of birds moving noisily through the forest, emitting their loud, uniquely varied vocalizations consisting of a combination of dry low chatters, hollow-sounding whistles, and resonant metallic notes. When seen, the effect of its glossy black plumage is broken only by their piercing red eyes and a white stripe on each wing. The white stripe is absent on the Bornean taxon, and this difference, in combination with their rather distinctive vocalizations, has led some recent authors to treat the Bornean population as a separate species. Although Black Magpie is somewhat tolerant of second growth habitat, forest loss throughout its range has been among the most extensive in the world, and as a result, it is probably undergoing a moderate and continued decline.