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UrbanDomed nestMedium · 217 g
ID tip
The Maghreb magpie is around 48 cm long, similar in plumage to the widespread Eurasian magpie, but with the distinct patch of vivid blue bare skin behind the eye and on the lower eye lid. The white patch on the scapular ('shoulder') feathers is smaller (though not as small as in the Asir magpie of Arabia), as is the white belly patch. The blue skin around the eye is not entirely unique, as it is also recorded occasionally in the Iberian subspecies of the Eurasian magpie Pica pica melanotos, particularly in southern Spain.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Maghreb Magpie
One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 9 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is March, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Maghreb Magpie
The map shades 3 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Spain.
About the Maghreb Magpie
The Maghreb magpie is a species of magpie in the genus Pica found in North Africa from Morocco east to Tunisia, at altitudes from sea level up to 2,300 metres altitude. It can be distinguished from the Eurasian magpie by the patch of blue skin behind its eye, the narrower white belly, the shorter wings, and the longer tail.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Black-rumped MagpiePica bottanensisThe black-rumped magpie is black-and-white, with its namesake black rump, brighter plumage, stouter bill, and shorter tail being the main distinctive features from the closely related Oriental and Eurasian magpies.
Asir MagpiePica asirensisThe Asir magpie (Pica asirensis) is about 45–46 cm (18–18 in) long, and its weight is 200–240 g (7.1–8.5 oz).
Yellow-billed MagpiePica nuttalliiIt is a medium-sized corvid, at 43–54 centimeters (17–21 in) long averaging slightly smaller than the black-billed magpie's 45–60 cm (18–24 in) but overlapping with it.
Side by side: Black-billed Magpie vs Maghreb Magpie · Maghreb Magpie vs Oriental Magpie · Maghreb Magpie vs Yellow-billed Magpie
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