Description:

Large very distinctive glossy black and white magpie. Body is mainly black with weak purple-and-green sheen, white scapulars, flanks and belly. Has metallic blue-black wings, with white inner webs to primaries showing as a white flash in flight. Tail is long, graduated, and metallic bronze-green and purple.

Distribution:

Common resident in all the valleys and towns of Gilgit-Baltistan, uncommon in southern parts. Inhabits a tremendous variety of open country with scattered trees, cultivated upland valleys and around villages with orchards and groves, up to 4400m.

Behavior:

Feeds almost entirely on ground, walking with bold, strutting gait, carrying tail upwards as it searches for insects; side-hops to catch prey. Perches on cattle and sheep. Omnivorous, but chiefly a carnivorous scavenger. Diet basically invertebrates, especially beetles, and small mammals and lizards, frogs, bird eggs and nestlings, as well as carrion and rarely even adult birds.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Eurasian Magpie in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Eurasian Magpie

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.