Wesley's Backyard Birds
Black-billed Magpie

The Black-billed Magpie is a large bird in the crow family that can be seen in the western half of North America from Alaska to Oklahoma. The Black-billed Magpie is omnivorous, eating many types of insects, carrion, eggs and rodents, as well as berries, seeds and nuts, and also garbage and food from pets that are fed outside. It forages on the ground, but also may steal food from other birds. The Black-billed Magpie frequently lands on large mammals, such as deer and moose, to remove ticks from them. The magpie eats the ticks, and then hides some for later use, as members of the crow and jay family often do with excess food. Most of the ticks, however, are cached alive and unharmed, and may live to reproduce later. During the first half of the 20th century, black-billed magpies were considered detrimental to game-bird populations and domestic stock, and were systematically trapped or shot. Many also died from eating poison set out for coyotes and other predators. In 1933, 1,033 magpies were shot in Washington's Okanogan valley by two teams of bounty hunters. This was unfortunate due to them being detrimental was untrue.