Cyanopica cooki
Silhouette: Martien Brand (original photo), Renato Santos (vector silhouette) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki) is a bird in the crow family. It is 31–35 cm (12–14 in) long and similar in overall shape to the Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) but is slenderer with proportionately smaller legs and bill.
The Iberian magpie was formally described in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte based on a specimen that had been collected by Samuel Edward Cook in Spain. Bonaparte coined the binomial name Cyanopica cooki, to replace the preoccupied Pica cyanea. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the collector. The type locality was restricted to Madrid by Harry Forbes Witherby in 1923. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
This taxon was formerly treated as conspecific with the azure-winged magpie (C. cyanus), but this population is 5,400 miles (9,000 km) away from those in eastern Asia. Genetic analysis has suggested that Iberian and azure-winged magpies are distinct species. Other common names include Iberian azure-winged magpie, Cook's azure-winged magpie, and Spanish azure-winged magpie.
It has a glossy black top to the head and a white throat. The underparts and the back are a light grey-fawn in... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poznań Nowe Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Iberian Magpie sighting in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, based on 1,527 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 25th most-seen of the 202 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and December–January
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Iberian Magpie in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, against about 20% in August and September, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Iberian Magpie sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Iberian Magpie sightings, Sierra de Guadarrama National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Monfragüe National Park (Spain, about 40%).
Same family: Corvidae
The closest relatives of the Iberian Magpie that you can see in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (family Corvidae, Crows, Jays, and Magpies) are Carrion Crow (about 50%), Eurasian Magpie (about 50%) and Common Raven (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Iberian Magpie is recorded against all the birds logged in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (1,527 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
