Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's smartest creatures, and is one of the few non-mammal species able to recognize itself in a mirror test. They are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cagebirds. In addition to other members of the genus Pica, corvids considered as magpies are in the genera Cissa, Urocissa, and Cyanopica.
Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In common English, they are known as the crow family, or, more technically, corvids. Currently 133 species are included in this family. The genus Corvus, including the jackdaws, crows, rooks, and ravens, makes up over a third of the entire family. Corvids are the largest passerines.
The Taiwan blue magpie, also called the Taiwan magpie, Blue Kookaroo, Formosan blue magpie, or the "long-tailed mountain lady", is a species of bird of the crow family. It is endemic to Taiwan.
The Torresian crow, also called the Australian crow or Papuan crow, is a passerine bird in the crow family native to the north and west of Australia and nearby islands in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The species has a black plumage, beak and mouth with white irises. The base of the feathers on the head and neck are white. The Torresian crow is slightly larger with a more robust bill than the morphologically similar little crow.
The common green magpie is a member of the crow family, roughly about the size of the Eurasian jay or slightly smaller. In the wild specimens are usually a bright green colour, slightly lighter on the underside and has a thick black stripe from the bill to the nape. Compared to the other members of its genus, the white-tipped tail is quite long. This all contrasts vividly with the red fleshy eye rims, bill and legs. The wings are reddish maroon.
Cissa is a genus of relatively short-tailed magpies, sometimes known as hunting cissas, that reside in the forests of tropical and subtropical southeast Asia and adjacent regions. The four species are quite similar with bright red bills, a mainly green plumage, black mask, and rufous wings. Due to excess exposure to sunlight, they often appear rather turquoise in captivity. They are carnivorous, and mainly feed on arthropods and small vertebrates.
The treepies comprise four closely related genera of long-tailed passerine birds in the family Corvidae. There are 11 species of treepie. Treepies are similar to magpies. Most treepies are black, white, gray or brown. They are found in Southeast Asia. They live in tropical forests. They are highly arboreal and rarely come to the ground to feed.
The Bornean bristlehead, also variously known as the bristled shrike, bald-headed crow or the bald-headed wood-shrike, is the only member of the passerine family Pityriasidae and genus Pityriasis. It is an enigmatic and uncommon species of the rainforest canopy of the island of Borneo, to which it is endemic.
The Sri Lanka blue magpie or Ceylon magpie is a brightly coloured member of the family Corvidae, found exclusively in Sri Lanka. This species is adapted to hunting in the dense canopy, where it is highly active and nimble. Its flight is rather weak, though, and is rarely used to cover great distances. In spite of the Sri Lanka blue magpie's ability to adapt to the presence of humans, it is classified as vulnerable to extinction due to the fragmentation and destruction of its habitat of dense primary forest in the wet zone of southern Sri Lanka.
The Indochinese green magpie or yellow-breasted magpie, is a passerine bird of the crow family, Corvidae. It is native to mainland southeast Asia (Indochina) and adjacent China.
The Javan green magpie is a passerine bird in the crow family, Corvidae. This critically endangered species is endemic to montane forests on the Indonesian island of Java. It formerly included the Bornean green magpie as a subspecies, in which case the "combined" species was known as the short-tailed magpie. The bright green plumage is the result of the yellow pigment lutein, which they gain from their insect diet. They also feed on small lizards and frogs. Initially juveniles are bluish, but they become green after their first moult. In captivity, adults turn bluish if their diet is inadequate.
The Banggai crow is a member of the crow family from Banggai regency in the province of Central Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is listed as critically endangered by IUCN. It was feared extinct, but was finally rediscovered during surveys on Peleng Island off the southeast coast of Sulawesi by Indonesian ornithologist Mochamad Indrawan in 2007 and 2008.
The slender-billed crow is a Passerine bird of the family Corvidae, in the genus Corvus. The violet crow has been found to be distinct genetically and separated as Corvus violaceus. The small crow has been split as Corvus samarensis and the Palawan crow has also been split as Corvus pusillus.
The brown-headed crow is a passerine bird of the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Endemic to Indonesia, it has a fragmented distribution in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest. It is threatened by habitat destruction and the IUCN has rated it as being "near-threatened".
The turquoise jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae.
The Malayan black magpie is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. Despite its name, it is neither a magpie nor, as was long believed, a jay, but a treepie. Treepies are a distinct group of corvids externally similar to magpies.
The Bornean treepie is a passerine bird belonging to the treepies genus, Dendrocitta, of in the crow family, Corvidae. It is endemic to the island of Borneo. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the Sumatran treepie.
The short-tailed magpies are two species of magpies that used to be considered conspecific:
