← Back to Life List
Crows & Ravens

Black-billed Magpie

Hudsonelster

Pica hudsonia

Crows & Ravens10 photosFirst seen: 19 August 2026
Black-billed Magpie

The Black-billed Magpie is a large western corvid that combines a bold black-and-white pattern with a very long tail. In good light, the dark wings and tail show blue-green iridescence. It forages on the ground for insects, carrion and many other foods and builds a large domed stick nest with a side entrance. Family groups and loose flocks are common outside the breeding season.

ID tip: The extremely long diamond-shaped tail and broad white wing patches are distinctive in flight. At rest, look for the black bill and glossy blue-green wings and tail.
First seen: 19 August 2026 · Denali National Park · 10 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Family
Crows & Ravens (Corvidae)
Length
45–60 cm
Wingspan
56–61 cm
Regional status
Year-round resident (Alaska, USA)
Conservation
Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 27 August 2026
Habitat
Open country, shrubland, farms, towns and stream corridors with scattered trees
Diet
Insects, carrion, small vertebrates, eggs, fruit, grain and food scraps
Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Selected photographs

Black-billed MagpieBlack-billed MagpieBlack-billed MagpieBlack-billed MagpieBlack-billed MagpieBlack-billed MagpieBlack-billed MagpieBlack-billed Magpie
Complete photo archiveAll 10 published photographs of this species, including the selected main gallery.Open all 10 photos in the archive →
‹ Black-backed WoodpeckerBlack-capped Chickadee ›