Magpie
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European Magpie <tr><th bgcolor=pink>Scientific classification <tr><td>
Urocissa
Cyanopica
Cissa </table> The magpies are medium to large, often colorful and noisy passerine birds in the crow family, Corvidae. They are closely allied to the jays and treepies. The names 'jay', 'treepie' and 'magpie' are to a certain extent interchangeable, not reflecting any genuine genetic difference between the groups. Recent research has cast doubt on the taxonomy of the Pica magpies, since it appears that P. hudsonia and P. nuttalli may not be different species, whereas the Korean race of P. pica is genetically very distinct from the other Eurasian forms.
Species
Genus Pica
- European Magpie Pica pica
- American Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia
- Yellow-billed Magpie Pica nuttalli
Genus Urocissa
- Formosan Blue Magpie Urocissa caerulea
- Red-billed Blue Magpie, Urocissa erythrorhyncha
- Gold-billed Magpie, Urocissa flavirostris
- White-winged Magpie, Urocissa whiteheadi
- Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, Urocissa ornata
Genus Cyanopica
- Azure-winged Magpie, Cyanopica cyana
Genus Cissa
- Green Magpie, Cissa chinensis
- Yellow-breasted Magpie, Cissa hypoleuca
- Short-tailed Magpie, Cissa thalassina
The Black Magpie, Platysmurus leucopterus, despite its name, is a jay.
Other corvids resembling magpies include the treepies, genus Dendrocitta.
Black and white birds unrelated to the corvids are often named magpies by analogy. These include:
Folklore
A hopscotch game with the magpie rhyme
A traditional English rhyme records the traditional belief that seeing a certain number of magpies was a prediction of your future.
The rhyme runs:
- One for sorrow
- Two for mirth
- Three for a wedding
- Four for a birth
- Five for rich
- Six for poor
- Seven for a witch
- I can tell you no more.
Alternate versions of this counting rhyme include:
- One for sorrow,
- Two for joy,
- Three for a girl,
- And four for a boy,
- Five for silver,
- Six for gold,
- Seven for a secret never to be told.
- One for sorrow
- Two for mirth
- Three for a death
- Four for a birth
- Five for heaven
- Six for hell
- Seven's the Devil his own sel'
According to Terry Pratchett:
There are many rhymes about magpies, but none of them are very reliable, because they are not the ones the magpies know.
-from Carpe Jugulum
"The Magpies" is also a nickname for the English football club Newcastle United, owing to their black and white strip.
ast:Pega
eo:pigo
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