Pica pica
Alexis Lours · Gennevilliers
The magpie (Pica pica) is a medium-sized bird in the crow family. It lives and nests in Georgia throughout the year. Its presence there has also been confirmed by a photograph. An adult is about 44–46 cm long, with the tail making up about half that length. It has black-and-white feathers, and its wings and tail have a shimmering blue-green sheen. It poses no direct danger to people. Worldwide, the magpie is considered to be at low risk. In Georgia, it was placed in the same category in 2024.
Identification
It is a black-and-white, crow-like bird with a long tail whose feathers are different lengths. It has white patches on its shoulders and a white belly, while its wings and tail shimmer blue-green. Its call is a sharp chirp. No other bird that lives in Georgia year-round has this combination of features.
Birds of this species are about 44–46 cm long, with the tail making up much of that length. Their wingspan is often about 52–60 cm, and they usually weigh about 180–270 g. This page does not provide separate measurements for birds measured in Georgia. Males and females look alike, though males are slightly larger on average.
Adults are strikingly black and white: the head, chest and back are black, with white patches on the shoulders and a white belly. In good light, the wings and long, stepped tail show a blue, green or purple sheen. The bill and legs are black. Young birds are duller, less glossy and have shorter tails until they replace all their feathers for the first time.
The grey crow (Corvus cornix) has a greyer body. It lacks the long black-and-white tail with feathers of different lengths and the white patches on the shoulders. Its call is deeper. The common jay (Garrulus glandarius) is mostly reddish-pink. It has a blue patch on its wings and a short tuft of white feathers, but no long black-and-white tail. The black crow and the raven are mostly black; unlike the magpie, they have no white belly or shoulders. The common raven (Corvus corax) is much larger, with a thick beak and a wedge-shaped tail. It has its own page in this atlas. The North American black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia) and the eastern magpie (Pica serica) are not found in Georgia. This atlas does not yet have separate pages for the grey crow and the jay.
It is harmless to people. If you see a noisy black-and-white bird with a long tail in a park, at the edge of a field, or on a tree in a village in Georgia, it is usually this species.
This page does not shade municipalities on the map. The 2024 list confirms that magpies live in Georgia year-round, but it gives no records by region. We should not assume they occur equally across the country, including in dense mountain forests and treeless high-altitude plateaus. Magpies are listed for the Chachuna Managed Reserve (Dedoplistskaro Municipality). A regional list also names them alongside Tbilisi National Park, but that entry does not show how many live there. An older Georgian encyclopedia describes magpies in scrub, at forest edges and in riverside forests. It says they live in eastern Georgia, while in some parts of the west they mainly spend the winter. The nationwide 2024 list does not confirm this difference between east and west. In general, magpies use open or partly open places with trees, including farmland, gardens, parks, river floodplains and green spaces in settlements. They usually avoid dense forests and large treeless marshes. This page does not specify the elevations at which they occur in Georgia.
This page does not include a separate study of what it eats in Georgia or how much of each food it consumes. Across its range, it eats whatever food is available, including animals without backbones, small animals with backbones, other birds’ eggs and chicks, dead animals, fruit, seeds and waste near people. It often feeds on the ground, moving in short hops or walking. During the nesting season, it may also take eggs or chicks from other birds’ nests. It is not considered food for people.
Related guides
Questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Eurasian magpie.
Yes. It has been confirmed that this bird lives in Georgia year-round.
It is found in open or partly open places with trees, including farmland, parks, gardens, floodplains and settlements. It has also been reported in the Chachuna reserve. The map on this page does not cover every region.
Black-and-white feathers, a long, shimmering tail with feathers of different lengths, white patches on the shoulders, a white belly, and a sharp chirping call. Grey crows and jays do not have all these features together.
This species is about 44–46 cm long in total. Its long tail makes up a large part of that length. This page does not include separate measurements from Georgia.
It eats animals without backbones, small animals with backbones, eggs and chicks, carrion, fruit, seeds and scraps. This page does not say how much each type of food contributes to its diet in Georgia.
According to the 2024 list, it lives here year-round and breeds here.
Yes. According to the 2024 list, this bird nests and remains in the same area year-round. Its large nest is built from branches, is often dome-shaped, and sits in a tree or on a similar support.
It is harmless to people. Globally and on the 2024 national list, it is classified as LC (Least Concern), meaning its risk of extinction is low. It is not included in Georgia’s 2014 Red List. Do not catch wild birds.
References
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
