Yellow-billed Magpie

Yellow-billed Magpie

Pica nuttalli

Endemic
Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible
at Sacramento

In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%

4,779 Verified sightings at Sacramento
July Best month

About the Yellow-billed Magpie

The yellow-billed magpie (Pica nuttallii), also known as the California magpie, is a bird that is endemic to California's Central Valley and the adjacent chaparral foothills and mountains. Apart from its having a yellow bill and a yellow streak around the eye and being slightly smaller, it is virtually identical to the black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia) found in much of the rest of western North America. The scientific name commemorates the English naturalist Thomas Nuttall.

Audubon first named the species in 1837 using the spelling "nutallii". This mis-spelling of Nuttall's name was soon corrected by subsequent authors, but most recent literature has used the spelling "nuttalli", itself also an error as the original Latin ending -ii must be retained; the correct spelling thus nuttallii.

mtDNA sequence analysis indicates a close relationship between the yellow-billed magpie and the black-billed magpie, rather than between the outwardly more similar black-billed and Eurasian magpies (P. pica); it is possibly even genetically embedded within black-billed magpie, but this is not certain.

Combining fossil evidence and paleobiogeographical considerations with the molecular... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:15

United States · 2022

© Paul Marvin · XC719940 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:20

United States · 2020

© Steve Hampton · XC565248 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call1:28

United States · 2015

© Frank Lambert · XC408618 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sacramento 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
2 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-billed Magpie in Sacramento?

Possible

About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-billed Magpie sighting in Sacramento on a given day, based on 4,779 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 235 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Yellow-billed Magpie in Sacramento?

May to March

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-billed Magpie in Sacramento on a given day, against about 20% in April, the lowest month.

Is Sacramento the best place to see a Yellow-billed Magpie?

Yes

Of the 2 cities where we can rate Yellow-billed Magpie sightings, Sacramento has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come San Francisco (United States, under 5%).

Which relatives of the Yellow-billed Magpie live in Sacramento?

Same family: Corvidae

The closest relatives of the Yellow-billed Magpie that you can see in Sacramento (family Corvidae, Crows, Jays, and Magpies) are California Scrub-Jay (about 90%), American Crow (about 60%) and Common Raven (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Yellow-billed Magpie sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Yellow-billed Magpie is recorded against all the birds logged in Sacramento (4,779 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.

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