Oriental magpie

Last updated

Oriental magpie
Korean magpie in Daejeon (side profile).jpg
Adult in Daejeon (South Korea)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Pica
Species:
P. serica
Binomial name
Pica serica
Gould, 1845
Pica pica map.png
Synonyms

Pica pica jankowskii(but see text)
Pica pica japonica
Pica pica serica and see text

Contents

The Oriental magpie (Pica serica) is a species of magpie found from south-eastern Russia to eastern China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and northern Indochina and Myanmar. Other names for the Oriental magpie include Korean magpie [1] and Asian magpie.

Taxonomy and systematics

A 2003 study comparing 813 bp mtDNA sequences led to the split of the Oriental magpie from the Eurasian magpie. It has been reproductively isolated for longer even than the yellow-billed magpie (P. nuttalli) of North America. Proposed subspecies include P. p. jankowskii and P. p. japonica. [2]

The Oriental magpie's evolution as a distinct lineage started considerably earlier than the Gelasian date of c.2 million years ago (Ma) indicated by a molecular clock analysis. The assumed divergence rate – 1.6% point mutations per Ma – is appropriate for a long-lived passerine, but hybridization – which as only mtDNA was used would be hard to detect – and the few specimens analyzed make the molecular clock estimate just an approximation. Meanwhile, the fossil record of North American magpies has a specimen – UCMP 43386, a left tarsometatarsus from Palo Duro Falls (Randall County, Texas) – which is probably from the Early Pleistocene Irvingtonian age, around 2–1 Ma. It shows the distinct features of a black-billed magpie (P. (p.) hudsonia), though it might be from a common ancestor of black- and yellow-billed magpies. This was not used to calibrate the molecular clock analysis, but accounting for the phylogenetic hypothesis it appears more likely that the Korean magpie's ancestors diverged from other Pica in the Early Pliocene already, perhaps 5–4.5 Ma, antedating the uplift of the Sierra Nevada which cut off most gene flow between the two North American populations. Residual gene flow between them (and between the two (or more?) Eurasian magpie lineages) until the onset of the Quaternary glaciation some 2.6–2 Ma may also have skewed the molecular clock results. [2] [3]

Like the other magpies, the Oriental magpie is a member of the large radiation of mainly Holarctic corvids, which also includes the typical crows and ravens ( Corvus ) nutcrackers ( Nucifraga ) and Old World jays. The long tail might be plesiomorphic for this group, as it is also found in the tropical Asian magpies ( Cissa and Urocissa ) as well as in most of the very basal corvids, such as the treepies. The unique black-and-white color pattern of the "monochrome" magpies is an autapomorphy. [4] [5]

Description

Compared to the Eurasian magpie, it is somewhat stockier, with a proportionally shorter tail and longer wings. The back, tail, and particularly the remiges show strong purplish-blue iridescence with few if any green hues. They are the largest magpies. They have a rump plumage that is mostly black, with but a few and often hidden traces of the white band which connects the white shoulder patches in their relatives. [1] The Oriental magpie has the same call as the Eurasian magpie, albeit much softer.

Significance in East Asian culture

In China, magpies are seen as an omen of good fortune. [6] This is reflected in the Chinese word for magpie, simplified Chinese :喜鹊; traditional Chinese :喜鵲; pinyin :xǐquè, in which the first character means "happiness". It was the official ‘bird of joy’ for the Qing dynasty. Qixi Festival, a holiday in China celebrating lovers, is based on the folktale The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, in which a bridge of magpies reunite the lovers every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

In Japan, it is found in all the main islands except Shikoku. It is called Kasasagi, the same name as is used for the Eurasian magpie (Pica pica). [7]

In Korea, the magpie (까치, "kkachi") is celebrated as "a bird of great good fortune, of sturdy spirit and a provider of prosperity and development". [8] In the same vein of bringing fortune and luck, Korean children were also taught that when you lose a tooth, to throw it on the roof singing a song for the magpie; 까치야 까치야 헌이 줄게. The bird will hear your song and bring you a new tooth. [9] It is also a common symbol of the Korean identity, and has been adopted as the "official bird" of numerous South Korean cities, counties and provinces. According to a Korean folktale, magpies formed a bridge to help two star-crossed lovers reunite. The magpie was chosen as the national bird of South Korea in 1964, after receiving a substantial number of votes in a national contest.

The bird is also the national bird of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passerine</span> Any bird of the order Passeriformes, sometimes known as perching birds

A passerine is any bird of the order Passeriformes which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their toes, which facilitates perching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magpie</span> Large bird in the corvid family

Magpies are birds of various species of the family Corvidae. 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 most intelligent creatures, and is one of the few nonmammalian species able to recognize itself in a mirror test. Magpies have shown the ability to make and use tools, imitate human speech, grieve, play games, and work in teams. 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 magpies are in the genera Cissa, Urocissa, and Cyanopica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lark</span> Family of birds

Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occurs in Australia. Habitats vary widely, but many species live in dry regions. When the word "lark" is used without specification, it often refers to the Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corvidae</span> Family of perching birds

Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, magpies, jackdaws, jays, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 135 species are included in this family. The genus Corvus containing 47 species makes up over a third of the entire family. Corvids (ravens) are the largest passerines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-billed magpie</span> Species of bird

The yellow-billed magpie(Pica nuttalli), also known as the California magpie, is a large corvid that inhabits California's Central Valley and the adjacent chaparral foothills and mountains. Apart from its having a yellow bill and a yellow streak around the eye, it is virtually identical to the black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia) found in much of the rest of North America. The scientific name commemorates the English naturalist Thomas Nuttall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-billed magpie</span> Species of bird in the Americas

The black-billed magpie, also known as the American magpie, is a bird in the corvid family found in the western half of North America. It is black and white, with the wings and tail showing black areas and iridescent hints of blue and blue-green. It was once thought to be a subspecies of the Eurasian magpie, but was placed into its own species in 2000 based on genetic studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian magpie</span> Species of bird

The Eurasian magpie or common magpie is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of the Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family (corvids) designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies. In Europe, "magpie" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the Eurasian magpie: the only other magpie in Europe is the Iberian magpie, which is limited to the Iberian Peninsula. Despite having a shared name and similar colouration, it is not closely related to the Australian Magpie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azure-winged magpie</span> Species of bird

The azure-winged magpie is a bird in the crow family. It is 31–35 cm long and similar in overall shape to the Eurasian magpie but is more slender with proportionately smaller legs and bill. It belongs to the genus Cyanopica.

<i>Aphelocoma</i> Genus of birds

The passerine birds of the genus Aphelocoma include the scrub jays and their relatives. They are New World jays found in Mexico, western Central America and the western United States, with an outlying population in Florida. This genus belongs to the group of New World jays—possibly a distinct subfamily–which is not closely related to other jays, magpies or treepies. Within this group, according to a 2023 molecular analysis, Aphelocoma is the sister group to a clade consisting of Cyanocitta and Gymnorhinus. They live in open pine-oak forests, chaparral, and mixed evergreen forests.

<i>Pica</i> (genus) Genus of birds

Pica is a genus of seven species of birds in the family Corvidae in both the New World and the Old. It is one of several corvid genera whose members are known as magpies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parrotbill</span> Group of birds

The parrotbills are a family, Paradoxornithidae, of passerine birds that are primarily native to East, Southeast and South Asia, with a single species in western North America, though feral populations exist elsewhere. They are generally small birds that inhabit reedbeds, forests and similar habitats. The traditional parrotbills feed mainly on seeds, e.g. of grasses, to which their robust bill, as the name implies, is well-adapted. Members of the family are usually non-migratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink robin</span> Species of songbird native to southeastern Australia

The pink robin is a small passerine bird native to southeastern Australia. Its natural habitats are cool temperate forests of far southeastern Australia. Like many brightly coloured robins of the family Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic. Measuring 13.5 cm (5.3 in) in length, the robin has a small, thin, black bill, and dark brown eyes and legs. The male has a distinctive white forehead spot and pink breast, with grey-black upperparts, wings and tail. The belly is white. The female has grey-brown plumage. The position of the pink robin and its Australian relatives on the passerine family tree is unclear; the Petroicidae are not closely related to either the European or American robins, but appear to be an early offshoot of the Passerida group of songbirds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-rumped magpie</span> Species of bird

The black-rumped magpie is a species of magpie found in central Bhutan to west-central China. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Eurasian magpie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asir magpie</span> Species of bird

The Asir magpie, also known as the Arabian magpie, is a highly endangered species of magpie endemic to Saudi Arabia. It is only found in the country's southwestern highlands, in the Asir Region. It occurs only in African juniper forest in well-vegetated wadis and valleys. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Eurasian magpie, and still is by many authorities. This species is highly threatened by habitat destruction, as its native forests are not regenerating. Tourism development and climate change are also posing a threat. Only 135 pairs are known to survive in the wild, and this number is declining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maghreb magpie</span> Species of bird

The Maghreb magpie is a species of magpie found in North Africa from Morocco east to Tunisia. 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.

References

  1. 1 2 Bangs, Outram (1932). "Birds of western China obtained by the Kelley-Roosevelts expedition". Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser. 18 (11): 343–379. doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.3192 .
  2. 1 2 Lee, Sang-im; Parr, Cynthia S.; Hwang, Youna; Mindell, David P.; Choe, J.C. (2003). "Phylogeny of magpies (genus Pica) inferred from mtDNA data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 29 (2): 250–257. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00096-4. PMID   13678680.
  3. Miller, Alden H.; Bowman, Robert I. (1956). "A Fossil Magpie from the Pleistocene of Texas" (PDF). Condor . 58 (2): 164–165. doi:10.2307/1364980.
  4. Ericson, Per G.P.; Jansén, Anna-Lee; Johansson, Ulf S.; Ekman, Jan (2005). "Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data" (PDF). J. Avian Biol. 36 (3): 222–234. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2001.03409.x.
  5. Jønsson, Knud A.; Fjeldså, Jon (2006). "A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri)". Zoologica Scripta . 35 (2): 149–186. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00221.x.
  6. "春蚕、喜鹊、梅花、百合花有什么象征意义?" [Silkworms, magpie, plum blossom, lily. What symbolic meaning?] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2017-08-31. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  7. ebird.org. "Pica serica". ebird. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  8. Winterman, Denise. "Why are magpies so often hated?". BBC News Magazine. Magpies have a dubious reputation because they are a bit of both. Over the years they have been lumped in with blackbirds
  9. "A Baby Tooth for a Bird". Once the tooth was extracted, the child was asked to throw it out onto the roof while singing a rhyme to a magpie.
  10. N. Korean stamp on national bird