Black-billed Magpie    Pica hudsonia

Conservation Status

General Status in Canada : Secure

COSEWIC Status : Not assessed

Populations of Black-billed Magpies are secure and not considered to be of conservation concern at this time. Populations are regulated by food availability, particularly in winter and early spring, and by the availability of nest sites. Early in the 20th Century, Black-billed Magpie populations experienced significant declines and range retractions. Declining populations have largely been attributed to the persecution of magpies by farmers and hunters, and the collapse of Bison (Bison bison) populations. As a result, the Black-billed Magpie is a protected species in the United States; this should have a positive effect on populations south of the border. Since the mid-1960’s, Black-billed Magpies have encroached into urban environments across the plains. Populations have flourished near new anthropogenic food sources, dumps and cattle feedlots.

Reference(s)

Trost, C. H. 1999. Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia), The Birds of North American Online, . A. Poole, Ed. Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved from The Birds of North America Online database: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/389

Underwood, T. J., S. G. Sealy, and C. M. McLaren. 2004. Experiments on egg discrimination in two North American corvids: further evidence for retention of egg rejection, Canadian Journal of Zoology, 82:1399-1407.