Talk:Black-billed magpie

Untitled

Can't find anything on altitude preference (see Talk:Magpie). Probably distribution governed by availability of trees. jimfbleak 06:51, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

last photograph

i am removing the last photograph, as it is clearly an Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen), and not a Black-billed Magpie —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trex21 (talk • contribs) 05:22, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Need improved wording

The description of the birds' range in the first paragraph needs work. As written, the sentence implies that the Rocky Mountains extend down into northern California and into Arizona. They do not.Cogreg (talk) 15:36, 29 November 2014 (UTC) OK -- I removed the wording "down the Rocky mountains" in accordance with my above-stated objection.Cogreg (talk) 15:43, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

Update distribution map

Black-billed Magpies are common on the Alaskan island of Kodiak. The Distribution Map does not reflect this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.67.46.170 (talk) 17:31, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

References

They are found farther north than southeast AK.

Their distribution goes at least as far north as North Pole, AK. Not only do I have one that has visited every day now for a week, but I have double checked with the head of UAF's Ornithology department in Fairbanks, AK to confirm my identification of the bird. He said that they are being sighted more frequently in recent years and that we do have a very small breeding population. 206.174.95.69 (talk) 00:13, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

That's pretty valuable to know. Thank you for sharing. I'll make sure it gets included in the article once I'm not so busy with other articles. –♠Vami_IV†♠ 15:23, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

Here’s a link: https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/magpies-more-common-sight-throughout-alaska — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dowobeha (talk • contribs) 22:03, 10 September 2022 (UTC)

Relation to Korean Subspecies

I'm considering removing the information regarding the relation between P. hudsonia and P. pica sericea:

If this view is correct, the Korean subspecies of the European magpie, Pica pica sericea, should also be considered a separate species. [fn 4]

My reasoning is that this is more a fact about P. pica sericea and doesn't add much to the discussion of black-billed magpies. The sentence and study were also written when P. hudsonia and P. pica were largely considered conspecific. This has largely been accepted now (IOC recognizes P. hudsonia) so this theorizing is settled.

grungaloo (talk) 22:54, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

GA Review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Black-billed magpie/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Jens Lallensack (talk · contribs) 22:09, 14 January 2024 (UTC)

Comments follow soon! --Jens Lallensack (talk) 22:09, 14 January 2024 (UTC)

• please add a color legend to the range map (see, e.g., Snowy plover as example).
  • Done
• black areas on the wings and tail iridescent hints of blue or blue-green – is a word missing here between "tail" and "iridescent"?
  • Fixed
• after genetic studies showed the variation between the two species. – Better "differences" instead of "variation"? Or even better, "based on genetic studies"?
  • Done
• be found in farmlands suburban ares. – again, word missing?
  • Added word
• Large predators such as wolves are commonly followed by black-billed magpies – It is easier to follow if you reverse the sentence to start with the magpie "Black-billed magpies commonly follow large predators …".
  • Flipped
• and sit near the top – Use "located", since, when using "sit", readers may think you mean the magpie rather than the nest.
  • Changed
• game-birds – game birds (2x)
  • Both instances fixed
• indicating a difference in species – I suggest "indicating separate species".
  • Changed
• but was placed into it's own species in the 2000s – Why not "in 2000", as stated in the main text?
  • Done
• From there the black-billed and Eurasian magpie species began to differentiate. – But at that time, they were not yet differentiated into separate species, right? Maybe "From there, the Eurasian and North American populations began to differentiate"?
  • Changed
• and the beginning on an – "of" instead of "an"?
  • Fixed
• They also have pink mouths and grey irises. – Do you mean "pink bills"? Also, what about bill, leg, and iris color in adults – if you provide this information for juveniles, you should also do so for males.
  • The source I used literally said "mouths", but an alternate source specifies "mouth lining". I've updated the text to use mouth lining, updated the reference, and also found a CC image of a juvenile that I added to illustrate the point.
• Description section: You indicate here that there are no differences in appearance between the Black-billed and the Eurasian magpie. But what about overall size and tail length differences mentioned earlier in "Taxonomy"?
  • Good catch, added.
• that the species also breeds in some meadows – What is meant with "meadows"? Certainly in trees, not in meadows, right?
  • It was worded weird, it meant that they live in meadows/suburbs. I've rewritten it.
• and often for life unless one dies – "unless one dies" is redundant here and can be removed.
  • Removed
• found low rates of divorce (8%) but one 7-year study in Alberta found divorce rates up to 63%. – are these figures per year? Or did 63% of pairs divorced in the entire 7-year period?
  • It's 63% over the 7-year period - I've reworded that to be clearer.
• Black-billed magpies tend to feed on primarily – "-primarily feed on"
  • Changed
• though this may simply reflect the adults' better overall condition and consequent lack of motivation to engage in fights. – Is "condition" (like "health condition") really what you want to say?
  • Reworded: "though this may simply reflect the adults' lack of motivation to engage in fights as they can more easily find food." - Better?
• behaviour – This is British English, right? Other parts seem to be American English.
  • Canadian English largely - I checked and I primarily used "our" endings. The only "or" I found was the "Behavior" heading, so I've changed that to Canadian English to be consistent.
• If regularly disturbed at the nest, magpie pairs will aggressively defend their nest. If the disturbances continue, they will eventually either move the eggs[30] or abandon the clutch altogether. Biologists who have climbed nest trees to measure magpie eggs have reported that the parents recognized them personally on subsequent days and started to mob them, overlooking other people in the vicinity. – Maybe this section is better placed under "Breeding and nesting"?
  • Agreed - I moved it up to the paragraph after where the nests are described.
• @Grungaloo: This is all! Mostly minor nitpicks. Great work. --Jens Lallensack (talk) 04:06, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

  Thanks for the comments Jens Lallensack - I think I've addressed everything. Let me know what you think! grungaloo (talk) 02:43, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

• Sorry to intrude ... Latin for magpie is pica; English "pie" may well be derived from the Latin. Needs a word of clarification. Chiswick Chap (talk) 20:51, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

  Fixed - pie is the Middle English word for them. grungaloo (talk) 22:17, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

@Grungaloo: Good work, looking really good! I will leave a couple of more comments for you, but these are optional for this GA, which I will promote shortly.

• It is black and white, with black areas on the wings and tail and iridescent hints of blue or blue-green. – This now does not say where it is iridescent. Maybe reformulate "with the wings and tail showing black areas and iridescent hints of blue and blue-green" or similar.
• The text says it is non-migratory, but the range map shows winter ranges, which seems contradictory.
• Standard information for comprehensive bird articles in Wikipedia also includes predators and parasites. --Jens Lallensack (talk) 23:09, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by DirtyHarry991 talk 10:33, 27 January 2024 (UTC)

(

• Comment or view
• Article history

)

Black-billed magpie eating ticks off the back of a cow

• ... that black-billed magpies (pictured) are known to eat ticks off of deer and other large mammals? Source: Black-billed Magpies (Pica pica) were observed pecking on fallow deer (Dama dama) on 56 occasions. Ectoparasite removal was apparently the reason for this interaction. Birds preferred deer that were sitting to deer that were standing,and interacted preferentially with adult males over females or calves. Deer did not solicit cleaning and, on a few occasions, were observed to shake off birds. This interaction may be beneficial for magpies, because ectoparasites are a predictable source of food, but its effect on fallow deer remains to be investigated. https://academic.oup.com/condor/article/100/1/177/5126669?login=false
  • Reviewed: None - this is my first submission

Improved to Good Article status by Grungaloo (talk). Self-nominated at 23:43, 16 January 2024 (UTC). Post-promotion hook changes for this nom will be logged at Template talk:Did you know nominations/Black-billed magpie; consider watching this nomination, if it is successful, until the hook appears on the Main Page.

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Freely licensed: Used in article: Clear at 100px:

QPQ: None required.

Overall: Interesting article! Good hook, recent GA, and good sources (AGFing offline ones). Earwig is catching a site that's a wikimirror, so that's not copyvio. There is some close paraphrasing that needs to be fixed though, I'll add those below. The quote used as a ref for the hook doesn't technically say ticks, but I'll AGF if it's in the offline source(s). The only other thing is I'm not sure the magpie is easy to see in the picture, can we use a cropped version that includes some cow but makes it easier to see the bird? BuySomeApples (talk) 03:31, 22 January 2024 (UTC)

There's close phrasing with this, this, and this. These should be easy fixes though. BuySomeApples (talk) 03:36, 22 January 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for the review BuySomeApples! I think I've fixed the issues.

Close Paraphrasing - I've fixed the paraphrasing in the 2nd and 3rd link you gave. I think the 1st actually copied from Wikipedia. Some of the text that it's flagging was added to the article in 2014, and looking at this diff from 2 months before the article was published (10 Nov 2016) shows a 82% violation. Let me know your thoughts.

Thank you for fixing that @Grungaloo: and good sleuthing on the mirror! It does seem like it copied Wikipedia rather than the other way around. BuySomeApples (talk) 08:18, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

Source - I changed the source used to one that's available online, feel free to verify! The important bit is on page 128 - it talks about magpies eating ticks off of moose.

Image - I tried cropping it - I'll leave it up to you if you think it works!

grungaloo (talk) 02:27, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

The new source and cropped image both work for me (although the picture is ultimately up to the promoter), so I think this nom is ready. BuySomeApples (talk) 08:18, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

Hi! Brachy0008 here. I am not here for the review, but I would like to propose an alternate hook.

ALT1: At least one black-billed magpie, living with humans, has learned to imitate human speech. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2x-ODyMvNU#) Brachy08 _(Talk) 08:52, 17 January 2024 (UTC)