Pica mauritanica
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Maghreb magpie (Pica mauritanica) is a species of magpie in the genus Pica found in North Africa from Morocco east to Tunisia, at altitudes from sea level up to 2,300 metres altitude. It can be distinguished from the Eurasian magpie by the patch of blue skin behind its eye, the narrower white belly, the shorter wings, and the longer tail.
Maghreb magpie was first described as a species in 1845, a status retained by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1877 despite his reducing multiple other Pica names to synonyms of the Eurasian magpie, and by Joseph Whitaker in his 1905 The Birds of Tunisia. It was however reduced to a subspecies of the Eurasian magpie later in the 20th century.
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that the Maghreb magpie was basal in the genus Pica, sister to a clade containing all of the other members of the genus; this leading to its restoration as a separate species by the IOC World Bird List in version 8.2 in July 2018.
The Maghreb magpie is around 48 cm long, similar in plumage to the widespread Eurasian magpie, but with the distinct patch of vivid blue bare skin behind the eye and on the lower eye lid. The white... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Maghreb Magpie sighting in Rabat on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 73rd most-seen of the 100 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and October–February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Maghreb Magpie in Rabat on a given day, against under 5% in March–June and August–September, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Maghreb Magpie sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Maghreb Magpie sightings, Rabat ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Marrakesh (Morocco, about 40%).
Same family: Corvidae
The closest relatives of the Maghreb Magpie that you can see in Rabat (family Corvidae, Crows, Jays, and Magpies) are Eurasian Jackdaw (about 70%) and Common Raven (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Maghreb Magpie is recorded against all the birds logged in Rabat (17 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
