Overview

The magpie is impossible to ignore — a long-tailed corvid in black and white, with blue-green iridescence flashing on wing and tail in sunlight. Loud, confident, and conspicuous, magpies patrol suburban streets and woodland edge with the swagger of a bird that knows exactly how smart it is.

Magpies belong to the crow family and share its intelligence: they can solve puzzles, remember faces, and — remarkably — recognise their own reflection in a mirror, a test most animals fail. Love them or find them raucous, they are a defining common discovery of British neighbourhoods.

Habitat

Magpies live throughout the United Kingdom in woodland, farmland, parks, and suburbs. They nest in tall trees — a domed stick structure with a side entrance — and forage on the ground for insects, small mammals, eggs, and scraps.

Countries found

Magpie in United Kingdom

Interesting facts

01
Magpies are one of the few birds that can recognise themselves in a mirror.
02
Their nests are covered domes of sticks with a single side entrance.
03
Magpies have a reputation for collecting shiny objects — though studies suggest this is mostly myth.
04
They belong to the crow family, alongside jays, rooks, and ravens.
05
A group of magpies is called a parliament — or a mischief, depending on who you ask.
06
Their chattering call is one of the most recognisable sounds of a suburban morning.

Conservation status

LC — Least Concern

Magpies are Least Concern and have increased in UK farmland and suburbs over recent decades. They are sometimes blamed for songbird declines, though habitat loss is the primary driver — magpies remain a common and conspicuous British bird.