Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli)

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter D. Koenig ◽  
Mark D. Reynolds ◽  
Daniel A. Airola
Keyword(s):  
Pica Nuttalli

Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli)

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter D. Koenig ◽  
Mark D. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Pica Nuttalli

Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli)

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Pica Nuttalli

Experiments on egg discrimination in two North American corvids: further evidence for retention of egg ejection

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (9) ◽  
pp. 1399-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd J Underwood ◽  
Spencer G Sealy ◽  
Celia M McLaren
Keyword(s):  
Brood Parasitism ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Egg Discrimination ◽  
Corvus Brachyrhynchos ◽  
Detection Model ◽  
Egg Ejection ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pica Nuttalli ◽  
High Level

In the absence of brood parasitism in North America, black-billed magpies, Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1822), and yellow-billed magpies, Pica nuttalli (Audubon, 1837), may have retained egg-discrimination behaviour that evolved in Eurasian magpies, Pica pica (L., 1758), in response to parasitism by Old World cuckoos. We further examined this hypothesis by testing the egg-discrimination abilities of black-billed magpies and the American crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm, 1822, which has no history of brood parasitism. In addition, we tested an alternative hypothesis that black-billed magpies evolved or retained egg discrimination to counter conspecific parasitism by testing their ability to eject foreign conspecific eggs and by using a signal detection model to estimate the level of conspecific parasitism required for ejection to be favoured. Black-billed magpies ejected all non-mimetic eggs and 62% of mimetic eggs. Significantly more mimetic eggs were ejected during the incubation stage than during the laying stage. Magpies ejected significantly more non-mimetic eggs than mimetic eggs overall, but there was no difference in ejection frequency during incubation. American crows ejected 21% of non-mimetic eggs and 8% of mimetic eggs. There was no significant difference in ejection frequency of the two egg types. Black-billed magpies ejected 11% of conspecific eggs and a relatively high level of conspecific parasitism (22%–49%) would be required to select for conspecific ejection, which provides little support for conspecific parasitism as a current selection pressure for maintaining egg discrimination. Thus, black-billed magpies appear to have retained egg rejection in the absence of parasitism through speciation from Eurasian magpies.

Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter D. Koenig ◽  
Mark D. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Pica Nuttalli

Ecological Specialization and Generalization

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Futuyma
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Temperature Tolerance ◽  
Ecological Specialization ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Yellow Warbler ◽  
Geographic Ranges ◽  
Tropical Environments ◽  
Pica Nuttalli

Anyone who is even slightly acquainted with plants or animals knows that different species inhabit different parts of the world, live in different habitats, and, in the case of animals, eat some imaginable kinds of food and not others. As with many other familiar facts, it may not occur to us to ask why the geographic and ecological ranges of species are limited, until we realize that species vary drastically in their geographic, ecological, and physiological amplitudes. The bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) is broadly distributed in temperate climates of every continent (except Antarctica), whereas the curly-grass fern (Schizaea pusilla) is limited to parts of eastern Canada and central New Jersey in the United States. The black-billed magpie (Pica pica) is a familiar bird from western Europe through eastern Asia and from Alaska to the Great Plains of North America, but the very similar yellow-billed magpie (Pica nuttalli) is restricted to central California. What accounts for the much narrower distribution of one than the other species? Related species often differ in the variety of habitats they occupy. The thistle Cirsium canescens is restricted to well-drained sandhills in the American prairie, whereas Cirsium arvense is a European species that has become a rampant weed in North America, growing in many types of soil. The endangered Kirtland's warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii) nests only in stands of jack pine of a certain age, while its relatives, such as the yellow warbler (Dendroica aestiva), nest in many types of vegetation and have far broader geographic ranges as well. (Species with narrow and broad habitat associations are referred to as stenotopic and eurytopic, respectively.) Stenotopic species or populations frequently have a narrower tolerance of certain physical variables than do others. Most plants and animals from warm tropical environments cannot survive freezing temperatures, and Antarctic notothenioid fishes cannot tolerate temperatures above 6°C. In contrast, species that inhabit environments where the temperature varies widely often have broad temperature tolerance. In many such species, individuals are capable of biochemical and physiological alterations that acclimate them to pronounced changes in temperature.

Yellow-billed Magpie Population Status and Habitat Characteristics in Urban Sacramento, California

Western Birds ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-239
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Airola ◽  
Lily A. Douglas ◽  
Layla Airola
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Flowing Water ◽  
Population Status ◽  
Foraging Habitat ◽  
Oak Woodlands ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Annual Grassland ◽  
Reproductive Rates ◽  
Pica Nuttalli ◽  
Direct Counts

Most research on the ecology of the Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli) has been focused in oak woodlands and savannas in California’s Coast Ranges; urban and suburban populations, some of which are sizable, have received little attention. In 2020, we studied eight colonies in six parks around Sacramento and in 2021 expanded the survey to 43 sites, detecting 827 breeding magpies. Population estimates based on nest counts were generally higher than those from direct counts, and nest counts were more repeatable and efficient. Counts of recently fledged young in family groups yielded reproductive rates similar to those observed near the coast before arrival of West Nile virus in 2003, suggesting that the virus is not currently affecting nestlings’ survival. Sacramento magpies nested in the upper canopy of a wide variety of large trees, both native and non-native. They foraged preferentially in low herbaceous habitat—irrigated turf and unirrigated annual grassland that was mowed or grazed. The presence of rivers and streams influenced occupancy strongly. Colony size was strongly related to the amount of low herbaceous foraging habitat within 0.5 km of colony sites with nearby flowing water. Our results suggest that at least 4 ha of low herbaceous foraging habitat is needed to support a small nesting colony. Retention of herbaceous habitat near large trees and flowing water, plus mowing or grazing to keep herbaceous growth low, should benefit urban Yellow-billed Magpies.

Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli)

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter D. Koenig ◽  
Mark D. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Pica Nuttalli

EARLY IMPACT OF WEST NILE VIRUS ON THE YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE(PICA NUTTALLI)

The Auk ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 542-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
SCOTT P. CROSBIE ◽  
WALTER D. KOENIG ◽  
WILLIAM K. REISEN ◽  
VICKI L. KRAMER ◽  
LAUREN MARCUS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Nile Virus ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Pica Nuttalli
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