Magpie
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Magpies (IPA: /ˈmæɡˌpaɪ/, SAMPA: /"m{g%paI/) are passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae. The names 'jay' and 'magpie' are to a certain extent interchangeable, although this does not accurately reflect the evolutionary relationship between these birds. For example, the Eurasian Magpie seems more closely related to the Eurasian Jay than to the Oriental Blue and Green Magpies, whereas the Blue Jay is not as closely related to either within the Corvid family.[citation needed]
In Europe, "magpie" is often used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia. That bird was referred to as a "pie" until the late 16th century when the feminine name "Mag" was added to the beginning.[1]
They are opportunistic scavengers and will eat anything once they have discovered it is edible. They are known to attack the nests of other birds and eat their fledglings.
The European Magpie is the only non-mammal known to be able to recognise itself in a mirror.[2]
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[edit] Systematics and species
According to recent analysis,[3] magpies do not form the monophyletic group they are traditionally believed to be — a long tail has certainly evolved (or shortened) independently in multiple lineages of corvid birds. Among the traditional magpies, there appear to be two evolutionary lineages: One consists of Holarctic species with black/white coloration and is probably closely related to crows and Eurasian jays. The other contains several species from South to East Asia with vivid coloration which is predominantly green or blue. The Azure-winged Magpie is a species with a most peculiar distribution and unclear relationships. It may be the single survivor of a long extinct group of corvid genera.[citation needed]
Other research[4] has cast doubt on the taxonomy of the Pica magpies, since it appears that P. hudsonia and P. nuttalli may not be different species, whereas the Korean race of P. pica is genetically very distinct from the other Eurasian (as well as the North American) forms. Either the North American, Korean, and remaining Eurasian forms are accepted as 3 or 4 separate species, or there exists only a single species, Pica pica.
Holarctic (black-and-white) magpies
- Genus Pica
- European Magpie, Pica pica
- Black-billed Magpie, Pica hudsonia (may be conspecific with P. pica)
- Yellow-billed Magpie, Pica nuttalli (may be conspecific with P. pica/P. hudsonia)
- Korean Magpie, Pica sericea (may be conspecific with P. pica)
Oriental (blue/green) magpies
- Genus Urocissa
- Formosan Blue Magpie Urocissa caerulea
- Red-billed Blue Magpie, Urocissa erythrorhyncha
- Gold-billed Magpie, Urocissa flavirostris
- White-winged Magpie, Urocissa whiteheadi
- Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, Urocissa ornata
- Genus Cissa
- Green Magpie, Cissa chinensis
- Yellow-breasted Magpie, Cissa hypoleuca
- Short-tailed Magpie, Cissa thalassina
Azure-winged Magpie
- Genus Cyanopica
- Azure-winged Magpie, Cyanopica cyana
[edit] Other "magpies"
- The Black Magpie, Platysmurus leucopterus, despite its name, is neither a magpie nor, as was long believed, a jay, but a treepie. Treepies are a distinct group of corvids externally similar to magpies.
- The Australian Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen, is conspicuously piebald, with black and white plumage reminiscent of a European Magpie. It is a member of the family Artamidae, and not a corvid.
[edit] Magpie lore in Britain
The most famous rhyme associated with magpies is:
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
And seven for a secret never to be told.
This was popularised by the British children's programme Magpie. The response to seeing a magpie is to say "Good morning Mr Magpie" and to salute it.
One continued version[citation needed] of the poem is:
Eight's a kiss,
Nine's a wish,
Ten's a bird you should never miss.
In an alternative version, the last line of the poem is:
And ten's an evening ending in bliss
A classical version of the rhyme, that has became rather archaic over time is:[citation needed]
One's for sorrow,
Two's for mirth,
Three's a wedding,
Four's a birth.
Five's a christening,
Six a death,
Seven is heaven,
Eight is hell.
Nine is the devil, his ane sel.
[edit] Magpies in Popular Culture
- Heckle and Jeckle, two annoying magpies created by the Terrytoons cartoon studio, were popular on screen and in comic books. One had an English accent, the other a Brooklyn accent. Two magpies resembling the cartoon birds are featured in several Windex commercials on TV.
[edit] References
- ^ Funk & Wagnalls Wildlife Encyclopedia, Volume 11, 1974, p. 1339.
- ^ Prior H. et al. (2008). "Mirror-Induced Behavior in the Magpie (Pica pica): Evidence of Self-Recognition". PLoS Biology (Public Library of Science) 6: e202. doi:. http://biology.plosjournals.org/archive/1545-7885/6/8/pdf/10.1371_journal.pbio.0060202-L.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-08-21.
- ^ Ericson et al. (2005)
- ^ Lee et al., 2003
- Anonymous (2006): The Word Origin Calendar: Sat./Sun. March, 11-12, 2006. Accord Publishing.
- Ericson, Per G. P.; Jansén, Anna-Lee; Johansson, Ulf S. & Ekman, Jan (2005): Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data. Journal of Avian Biology 36: 222-234. PDF fulltext
- Lee, Sang-im; Parr, Cynthia S.; Hwang, Youna; Mindell, David P. & Choe, Jae C. (2003): Phylogeny of magpies (genus Pica) inferred from mtDNA data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29: 250-257. PDF fulltext
- Tickner, Lisa (1980-04-01). "One for sorrow, two for mirth". Oxford Art Journal. http://www.jstor.org/view/01426540/ap040003/04a00100/0. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
[edit] External links
- Magpie videos on the Internet Bird Collection
