Oriental Magpie Pica serica 喜鵲
Category I. Common and widespread breeding resident that has substantially declined in range this century.
IDENTIFICATION
Jan. 2006, John and Jemi Holmes.
46–50 cm. Distinctive, mainly black and white corvid with long, graduated tail. Head to breast and most of upperparts black. Scapulars white. Upperwing black, glossed greenish blue on secondaries and tertials. Flanks and central underparts white. Tail black, glossed with green and reddish purple. Sexes similar.
Juvenile is similar to adult but duller, with black areas of plumage sooty matt black, white areas tinged buff. Becoming much as adult by late summer.
VOCALISATIONS
Most vocalisations uttered by Oriental Magpie in HK sound like variations on the theme of a harsh ‘chak’ call that can be given singly, severally or in longer bursts.
More likely to be heard in flight is a slightly softer single note call.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
Oriental Magpie favours low-density urban and village areas, farmlands and open wetland areas. It also occasionally utilizes shrubland, rocky shores and degraded hillside grassland. The only habitats avoided are extensive broadleaf forests and upland grassland and grassland/shrubland areas of the Tai Mo Shan massif and on Lantau.
However, a substantial range reduction was detected by both breeding bird (between 1993-96 and 2016-19) and winter atlas surveys (between 2001-05 and 2016-19). The proportion of occupied 1 km squares decreased from 40.1% to 12.2% in the former and from 35.0% to 13.9% in the latter. The greatest declines have occurred on islands (it is now absent or rare on HK Island, Lantau, Lamma, Cheung Chau and smaller outlying islands), in a broad band from the west New Territories through the northwest to the northeast. Despite this, the Deep Bay area remains the stronghold of the species, along with coastal areas of the New Territories.
The decline of the Oriental Magpie population in HK is likely due to urbanisation, which has led to a more limited availability of open and green spaces, and natural succession from open countryside to woodland in many areas. Furthermore, the loss of farmland near many villages due to either development or abandonment has probably also had an impact.
Early reports described Oriental Magpie as common on HK Island (Swinhoe 1861) and no changes in numbers and distribution were noted by subsequent observers until recently.
OCCURRENCE
Oriental Magpie is a resident species that occurs throughout the year. Reports are fewest from March to September, as birds are paired up and in the breeding cycle making them less detectable to observers. However, the number of reports increases in late September as they begin to aggregate and roost in larger groups.
The largest numbers are generally observed at winter roosts or pre-roost gatherings in which 20-30 birds are frequent. Up to 50 birds were regularly observed roosting in the mangroves at Mai Po, including the largest single-site count in HK, 80 on 28 November 1999. However, large groups such as this no longer occur. Roosting behaviour is occasionally seen at other sites, including Tai Sang Wai and Lut Chau (35 birds on 18 January 2016) and Lam Tsuen (20 birds on 11 January 2011).
BREEDING
Oriental Magpie is one of the first passerines to commence nesting, with building often observed in December and exceptionally as early as late October, though such early activity may not lead to egg-laying as fledged young are not seen until late March. Fledglings have been noted from 18 March to 17 July 2010. Man-made artefacts are frequently used as nest sites including buildings in the heart of the urban area, crane jibs, lighting towers, electricity pylons and advertising signboards.
Oriental Magpie is a host species for Asian Koel in HK, as on two occasions juvenile Asian Koels have been seen with adult Oriental Magpies in close attendance (Leven et al. 1994, Carey et al. 1998). However, no Asian Koel eggs or young have actually been seen inside Oriental Magpie’s nests. No doubt due to the decline in abundance of the species, there have been no reports of breeding this century.
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
Most records refer to singles or pairs of birds. In late September, birds begin to aggregate and form larger groups for roosting. Frequently forages on the ground and often perches prominently on trees or on wires. There are few data regarding diet, although it is known to be omnivorous; the only local data refer to consumption of fruit, including Ficus spp.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Widespread in the Oriental region, from Ussuriland south to Korea, most of lowland China, northern Thailand and Vietnam (Madge et al. 2020).
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend stable.
Figure 1.
Madge, S., D. A. Christie, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Oriental Magpie (Pica serica), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.orimag1.01
