Eurasian magpie
Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758)
The Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, belonging to the order Passeriformes and the family Corvidae. It is a small bird with an adult body mass from 191 to 230 g and a wingspan of 56 cm.
Quick facts about the Eurasian magpie
The Eurasian magpie is an omnivore with a terrestrial lifestyle, lives on human-modified land and is sedentary. It lays 6 eggs per clutch with one clutch per year, incubation lasts 19.25 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 191 g – 230 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 56 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 10.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 21.7 years
- Main food
- omnivoresrc for Main food
- Habitat
- human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 19.3 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5 – 6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 20.9 months – 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the Eurasian magpie?
Photos of the Eurasian magpie
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the Eurasian magpie live?
Not recorded
What is the Eurasian magpie?
The Eurasian magpie or common magpie (Pica pica) is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of the Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family (corvids) that are designated as magpies, and it belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies. In Europe, the term "magpie" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the Eurasian magpie; the only other species of magpie in Europe being the Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki), which is restricted to the Iberian Peninsula. Despite sharing a name and similar colouration, they are not closely related to the Australian magpie, which is an artamid, only sharing the same clade (Corvides).
The Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds. The expansion of its nidopallium is approximately the same in its relative size as the brains of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and humans. It is one of the few bird species known to pass the mirror test.
From the Wikipedia article “Eurasian magpie” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurasian_magpie&oldid=1377999290), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the Eurasian magpie sound like?
Is the Eurasian magpie endangered?
The Eurasian magpie is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Eurasian magpie classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyCorvidae
- genusPica
- SpeciesPica pica (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Corvus pica, Corvus rusticus, Corvus tornensis, Melanoleuca pica, Pica albiventris, Pica caudata, Pica galliae, Pica linnéi, Pica loquax, Pica nigroalba, Pica pica galliae, Pica pica hainana, Pica rusicola, Pica rustica, Pica rusticorum, Pica scandiaca, Pica varia
Other names and names in other languages (176)
- Black-billed magpieEnglish
- Common magpieEnglish
- European magpieEnglish
- MagpieEnglish
- Eurasiese eksterAfrikaans
- ÄgerstAlbanian
- عقعقArabic
- العقعق الأوراسيArabic
- عقعق أوراسيArabic
- عقعق شائعArabic
- GarzaAragonese
- maricaAsturian
- pegarataAsturian
- pegaratuAsturian
- peguetaAsturian
- pigarciaAsturian
- ХъамалгъедуAvaric
- SağsağanAzerbaijani
- ҺайыҫҡанBashkir
- ÖsterBavarian
- СарокаBelarusian
- Сарока звычайнаяBelarusian
- СвракаBulgarian
- Bропейската свракаBulgarian
- ইউরেশীয় ম্যাগপাইBangla
- PigBreton
- Pig-klakennBreton
- ШаазгайBuriat
- garsaCatalan
- Garsa eurasiàticaCatalan
- Q́orzaq́igChechen
- ШагыртемMari
- ШагыртенMari
- ЧакакChuvash
- straka obecnáCzech
- PiodWelsh
- PiodenWelsh
- HusskadeDanish
- HetzGerman
- AgelasterGerman
- AgelhetschGerman
- AgeristGerman
- AgerlusterGerman
- ÄgersteGerman
- AglasterGerman
- AlgarteGerman
- AlsterGerman
- AtzelGerman
- DiebschGerman
- EgesterGerman
- ElsterGerman
- GackerhätzelGerman
- GartenkräheGerman
- HästerGerman
- HatzelGerman
- HeisterGerman
- HesteGerman
- HetzeGerman
- HutscheGerman
- KekerschGerman
- KrückelelsterGerman
- SchagasterGerman
- SchalasterGerman
- SchalesterGerman
- ScholasterGerman
- SchulasterGerman
- TratschkatelGerman
- KabejaLower Sorbian
- ΚαρακάξαGreek
- Eŭropa pigoEsperanto
- ordinara pigoEsperanto
- picazaSpanish
- Urraca comúnSpanish
- harakasEstonian
- MikaBasque
- PegaExtremaduran
- زاغیPersian
- زاغ كبودPersian
- harakkaFinnish
- SkjóraFaroese
- Pie bavardeFrench
- ChecheFriulian
- MeaigIrish
- Cabaire breacIrish
- Snag breacIrish
- pioghaidScottish Gaelic
- pioghaideanScottish Gaelic
- Pega comúnGalician
- PieanatManx
- עקעק זנבתןHebrew
- ŠkrěkawaUpper Sorbian
- szarkaHungarian
- Սովորական կաչաղակArmenian
- PigoIdo
- SkjórIcelandic
- GazzaItalian
- カササギJapanese
- ユーラシアカササギJapanese
- კაჭკაჭიGeorgian
- КъанжэKabardian
- Саасханkjn
- СауысқанKazakh
- 까치Korean
- 유라시아까치Korean
- 유럽까치Korean
- ZaqKurdish
- KeginCornish
- PyasenCornish
- СагызганKyrgyz
- KréiLuxembourgish
- КерекулLezghian
- керекуьлLezghian
- AeksterLimburgish
- Gacialld
- paprastoji šarkaLithuanian
- ŠarkaLithuanian
- žagataLatvian
- шогертенMari
- страчкаMacedonian
- Европска страчкаMacedonian
- Шаазгай - ᠠᠯᠠᠭ ᠠᠭᠠᠵᠠᠭᠠᠢMongolian
- Magpie EurasiaMalay
- ငှက်ကျားBurmese
- СезьганErzya
- CiavulaNeapolitan
- Tó wónaanídę́ę́ʼ ąąʼąʼiiNavajo
- EksterDutch
- Euraziatische eksterDutch
- Gewone eksterDutch
- skjorNorwegian Nynorsk
- skjæreNorwegian
- Pienrm
- AgaçaOccitan
- ДзæгъындзæгOssetic
- Agache jacteussePicard
- sroka (zwyczajna)Polish
- SrokaPolish
- Sroka zwyczajnaPolish
- BertaPiedmontese
- pega-rabudaPortuguese
- pega-rabilongaPortuguese
- GiazlaRomansh
- KakarachiRomany
- CoţofanăRomanian
- CoțofanaRomanian
- Coțofană eurasiaticăRomanian
- СорокаRussian
- Европейская сорокаRussian
- Сорока обыкновеннаяRussian
- CarcarazzaSicilian
- PyotScots
- SkireNorthern Sami
- straka obyčajnáSlovak
- srakaSlovenian
- GrizhëlAlbanian
- LaraskaAlbanian
- SvrakaSerbian
- Svraka - СвракаSerbian
- MalabigaSardinian
- AksterSaterland Frisian
- skataSwedish
- Kinubi Rangi-mbiliSwahili
- СаесканTatar
- นกสาลิกาปากดำThai
- SaksağanTurkish
- Avrupa saksağanıTurkish
- СаасканTuvinian
- КоӵоUdmurt
- сорока звичайнаUkrainian
- ZagʻizgʻonUzbek
- Ác làVietnamese
- AgaesseWalloon
- 喜鵲Chinese
- 喜鹊Chinese
- 欧亚喜鹊Chinese
- 歐亞喜鵲Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the Eurasian magpie
Other species in the same genus Pica.
Black-billed magpie
Pica hudsonia
Korean magpie
Pica serica
Tibetan magpie
Pica bottanensis
Maghreb magpie
Pica mauritanica
Asir magpie
Pica asirensis
Yellow-billed magpie
Pica nutallii
CompareEurasian magpie vs Black-billed magpieEurasian magpie vs Korean magpieEurasian magpie vs Tibetan magpieEurasian magpie vs Maghreb magpie
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the Eurasian magpie?
The Eurasian magpie is a bird in the order Passeriformes and the family Corvidae, part of the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup.
How heavy is a Eurasian magpie?
An adult Eurasian magpie weighs from 191 to 230 g, with a representative value of 217.5 g. Its wingspan is 56 cm.
What does the Eurasian magpie eat?
The Eurasian magpie is an omnivore.
Is the Eurasian magpie endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a Eurasian magpie live?
Our sources give a lifespan of 10.49 years, with values up to 21.7 years.
How many eggs does a Eurasian magpie lay?
The Eurasian magpie lays 6 eggs per clutch and has one clutch per year. Incubation lasts 19.25 days.
Does the Eurasian magpie migrate?
No, the Eurasian magpie is sedentary.
Who named the Eurasian magpie?
The scientific name Pica pica is credited to (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Eurasian magpie (Pica pica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-magpie
“Eurasian magpie (Pica pica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-magpie.
@misc{eurasian_magpie_2026,
title = {Eurasian magpie (Pica pica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-magpie},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}