Listen to the Black-billed magpie
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Black-billed magpie
The Black-billed magpie is a bird in the family Corvidae (order Passeriformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”.
What does the Black-billed magpie sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia), 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 formerly treated as a subspecies of Pica pica (Eurasian magpie), but was separated as a species in its own in 2000 based on genetic studies.
This species prefers generally open habitats with clumps of trees, but can also commonly be found in farmlands and suburban areas. Historically associated with bison herds, it now lands on the backs of cattle to glean ticks and insects from them. Black-billed magpies commonly follow large predators, such as wolves, to scavenge from their kills. The species also walks or hops on the ground, where it obtains food items such as beetles, grasshoppers, worms, and small rodents.
Related birds in the genus Pica
More from the family Corvidae
Common raven
Corvus corax
Eurasian jay
Garrulus glandarius
Western jackdaw
Coloeus monedula
Rook
Corvus frugilegus
Hooded crow
Corvus cornix
Carrion crow
Corvus corone
Northern nutcracker
Nucifraga caryocatactes
Blue jay
Cyanocitta cristata
Alpine chough
Pyrrhocorax graculus
Red-billed chough
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
House crow
Corvus splendens
Frequently asked questions
What does a Black-billed magpie sound like?
You can hear 3 recordings of the Black-billed magpie on this page, including its call. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the Black-billed magpie endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Black-billed magpie as “least concern”.
What family does the Black-billed magpie belong to?
The Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia) belongs to the family Corvidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources & credits
- Call · Oak Draw Rd, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call · Oak Draw Rd, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Yellowstone sound library - Pica hudsonia - 001 by NPS & MSU Acoustic Atlas / Jennifer Jerrett – Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q254057 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Black-billed magpie – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by watts_photos – CC BY 2.0