Photo: Steve Hillebrand / USFWS · Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska · U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service · Public Domain
← Kodiak species
Songbirds
Black-billed Magpie
Pica hudsonia
A large, flashy corvid with iridescent black-and-white plumage and an extremely long tail. Bold and curious, magpies are a visible year-round resident in open areas near Kodiak town.
Where to look
Open areas near Kodiak town, roadsides, and meadows adjacent to forest around the island.
Habitat
Open forests, meadows, and roadsides near shrubby vegetation.
Diet
Insects, carrion, small vertebrates, eggs, and berries.
Natural history note
Black-billed Magpies build large dome-shaped nests of sticks with a mud cup, sometimes used by other species in subsequent years.