Magpie
- In captivity, the common magpie can live up to 30 years, which significantly exceeds its lifespan in the wild.
Age
Eurasian magpies experience several developmental stages, beginning with the embryo developing inside an egg. The nestling stage follows, during which the young are fed by their parents and lasts from three weeks and one day to one month. This is followed by the adult stage, which enables reproduction and independent living and spans from one to twenty years. The species typically lives for ten to fifteen years, although the maximum recorded lifespan is twenty-one years and nine months, with a theoretical lifespan ranging from fifteen years and three months to nineteen years and seven months. Sexual maturity is reached between one year and six months and two years and six months. The adult stage lasts from one to twenty years.
Phenotype
Downy feathers cover the body of the young magpie for warmth. The adult has a strong black beak which aids in foraging and nest building, and black, powerful legs that allow it to walk on the ground and grasp objects. The species exhibits striking black and white plumage with a metallic green-purple sheen on its wings and tail. A long, stepped tail assists with flight control.
Physiology
The Eurasian magpie measures between 40 and 50 centimeters in body length, with a wingspan of 56 centimeters; its body mass ranges from 145 to 186 grams when adult, but during the embryo stage, it weighs from 6 to 8 grams. The young have a body mass ranging from 10 to 150 grams and measure between 10 and 20 centimeters in length. An adult magpie’s body mass can range from 180 to 280 grams, and its body length remains between 40 and 50 centimeters.
Habitat
Eurasian magpies inhabit terrestrial landscapes, including forests. The species is found in temperate mixed forests with warm summers and many oaks, birches, and maples, as well as flooded meadows with abundant grass that are often inundated, and taiga characterized by cold winters and numerous coniferous trees such as spruce and pine. The climate varies, but always includes a great deal of moisture, with rain occurring almost constantly and high humidity; some areas experience cool summers and snow in winter, while others have warm summers and plentiful rainfall, or simply warm summers and mild winters, with comfortable summers averaging between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. Eurasian magpies can be found at altitudes up to 2.5 kilometers.
Shelter
Eurasian magpies reside in the branches of tall trees or bushes. The species builds or uses a nest as a shelter, which is a nesting structure for laying eggs and raising young. Nesting materials include twigs, sticks, mud, and grass.
Geography
The Eurasian magpie occupies the Palearctic biogeographical region and is found in several distinct ecosystems, including Celtic broadleaf forests, Western European broadleaf forests, coniferous forests of the Qilian Mountains, Balkan mixed forests, Baltic mixed forests, and Pyrenean coniferous and mixed forests.
Feeding
The Eurasian magpie is an omnivorous species; it catches insects and small animals, robs nests, eats seeds, berries, and carrion. The species gathers food on the ground and in the treetops, consuming insects, worms, small rodents, eggs, seeds, berries, carrion, small mammals, coniferous cones, and plants. Its diet includes beetles, butterflies, flies, Hymenoptera, bedbugs, Orthoptera, dragonflies, stoneflies, Plecoptera, decapods, ribbon worms, and mollusks. The young magpies feed on invertebrates. A daily food requirement ranges from 80 grams to 150 grams. The strategy for obtaining food involves searching and hunting. Wolves prey upon the species.
Reproduction
The Eurasian magpie forms lasting pairs, and together they construct a nest. The female lays eggs, and both parents incubate them and feed the young. Embryonic development lasts 3 weeks, and a brood consists of 5 to 8 chicks. The species reproduces every 1 year; the male and female reach maturity at between 1 and 2 years of age.