Eurasian Magpie

Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica) is a striking black-and-white corvid with a very long graduated tail and metallic green and purple gloss on its dark feathers. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives across northern Eurasia in open woodland, farmland and towns, feeding opportunistically on invertebrates, seeds, carrion and small animals and constructing a domed stick nest. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).