The Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica) is a boldly black-and-white corvid with an extremely long tail and an unmistakable chattering call, common throughout Sweden and strongly tied to human settlement. It measures 40–51 cm long, of which the long, wedge-shaped tail makes up 20–30 cm, with a wingspan of 52–62 cm and a weight of 180–280 grams. The head, breast and back are black and the belly and shoulder patches white, with a beautiful metallic green and purple sheen visible on the wings and tail in good light; the long tail acts as a rudder and balance organ, and a Magpie on the ground pumps and raises it in a characteristic way.
Its call is a hard, laughing, rattling "tschak-tschak-tschak", often given when disturbed or mobbing a predator — a gathering of Magpies calling together will often reveal the presence of a cat, owl or bird of prey nearby. Widespread across almost all of Sweden except the treeless mountains, with a large resident population estimated at 300,000–700,000 pairs, it thrives in open country with scattered trees and bushes and is very common in towns, villages, parks and gardens. Pairs mate for life and build a large, distinctive twig nest, often domed with a roof of branches as protection against crows and raptors, typically reusing the same tree or a nearby one for years; the female incubates 5–7 eggs alone while the male defends the territory and brings food. As an omnivore it takes insects, earthworms, seeds, berries and fruit as well as eggs and nestlings of other birds and carrion and refuse, foraging much of the time on the ground — and it is one of few animal species shown able to recognise itself in a mirror.
Read about this species in Swedish →