# Eurasian magpie (*Pica pica*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-magpie  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 191 g – 230 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 56 cm |
| Lifespan | 10.5 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 21.7 years |
| Main food | omnivore |
| Habitat | human_modified |
| Egg incubation | 19.3 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 5 – 6 |
| Age at maturity | 20.9 months – 2 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Corvidae
- genus: Pica
- species: *Pica 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*

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Eurasian magpie (Pica pica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-magpie