Family Crows and Jays (Corvidae)
Vulnerable
Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nutalli)
Taxonomy
French: Pie à bec jaune German: Gelbschnabelelster Spanish: Urraca de Nuttall
Taxonomy:
Corvus nutalli
Audubon
, 1837,Santa Barbara, California, USA
.Distribution:
California W of Sierra Nevada Mts (Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and valleys of S Coast Ranges), in SW USA.
Descriptive notes
43–54 cm; male 151–189 g, female 126–158 g. A medium-sized black-and-white corvid with long, graduated tail and yellow bill; most black areas strongly... read more
Voice
Not well studied. Stacatto, harsh “chatter” alarm call similar to that of P.... read more
Habitat
Oak (Quercus) savanna where large trees are scattered among broad expanses of open... read more
Food and feeding
Omnivorous. Eats grasshoppers (Orthoptera), Lepidoptera, bees, ants and wasps (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), true bugs (Hemiptera),... read more
Breeding
Nest-building from late Dec to Mar, egg-laying mid Mar to early May. Monogamous, apparently lifelong pair-bond. Male and some females... read more
Movements
Resident. Most juveniles not seen after they disperse, but a few males known to have obtained... read more
Status and conservation
VULNERABLE. Previously considered Near Threatened. Restricted-range species: present in California EBA. Inhabits area of c. 240 x 800 km of bottomland and adjacent low... read more
Differs very weakly genetically from P. hudsonia and very possibly merits reunification with that species and also with P. pica#R. Differs, however, from hudsonia in its yellow bill and variable yellow area around eye (3); somewhat different voice, with shorter upslurred whine-call (1) and slightly higher-pitched chatter-call (1)#R; smaller size (at least 1), although S populations of hudsonia “are, on average, smaller and smaller-billed than northern birds and tend to show a small patch of bare skin around the eye, thus approaching [nutalli] in appearance”#R; and more colonial habit (1). Lack of internal information in original description means spelling cannot be emended to nuttalli#R. Monotypic.