Magpies are the only bird in our area with a tail longer than the body. In proper lighting, their wings and tail even display an iridescent quality. Magpies are in the corvid group.

Biologists with the Alaska Bird Treatment and Learning Center believe there are as many as 180,000 magpies, or Pica hudsonia, living in Alaska, with untold thousands calling Anchorage home.

Instead, the birds outsmarted us.” Magpies are a staple in Australian bush and backyards. The iconic birds are known for their warbling calls and territorial but playful nature.

From September 1886: Confessions of a bird’s-nest hunter What’s more, the magpie nest’s spikes were arrayed outward, as if to scare off other birds.