Black-Billed Magpie
Pica hudsonia
Sometimes called the American Magpie, these birds build large domed structures to nest in. Nests are usually maintained by communities of these birds. They range from east of the Sierra-Nevada and Cascade Mountains of northern California, east through Nevada, Utah, Colorada and north through Nebraska and the Dakotas, then north over much of the Canadian prairie provinces and into British Columbia and even to southern Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula.
Often persecuted and unloved by Western man, these birds can be quite wary. The magpie’s impact on other songbirds from nest robbing has not proven unfavorable to the success of these so-called victims.
When bison roamed the American plains, the magpies travelled with them. When the bison were killed off during the 1870s, the magpies switched their association to the cattle that replaced the bison.

Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: Lee Metcalf NWR in the Bitterroot Valley near Stevensville, Montana. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:26 14:59 |
Location:
Lee Metcalf NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: D3X4809-BlackBilledMagpie |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: I found these birds were nesting on the reserve in a magpie "condo". Lee Metcalf NWR in the Bitterroot Valley near Stevensville, Montana. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:26 15:03 |
Location:
Lee Metcalf NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: D3X4811-BlackBilledMagpie |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: Lee Metcalf NWR in the Bitterroot Valley near Stevensville, Montana. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:26 15:03 |
Location:
Lee Metcalf NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: D3X4822-BlackBilledMagpie |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: I found these birds were nesting on the reserve in a magpie "condo". Lee Metcalf NWR in the Bitterroot Valley near Stevensville, Montana. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:26 15:03 |
Location:
Lee Metcalf NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: D3X4830-BlackBilledMagpie |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: I found these birds were nesting on the reserve in a magpie "condo". Lee Metcalf NWR in the Bitterroot Valley near Stevensville, Montana. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:26 15:04 |
Location:
Lee Metcalf NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: D3X4841-BlackBilledMagpie |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: Ramp Road Park near the northeastern shore of Bridgeport Reservoir. Bridgeport California, Mono County. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 9:48 |
Location:
Bridgeport |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: BlackBilledMagpie_D5X8634-Bridgeport |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: Antelope Island State Park, north of Salt Lake City, Utah. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:11 8:25 |
Location:
Antelope Island |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: D3X1347-BlackBilledMagpie |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: Ramp Road Park near the northeastern shore of Bridgeport Reservoir. Bridgeport California, Mono County. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 9:56 |
Location:
Bridgeport |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: BlackBilledMagpie_D5X8646-Bridgeport |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Black-Billed Magpie(Pica hudsonia) |
Description: Ramp Road Park near the northeastern shore of Bridgeport Reservoir. Bridgeport California, Mono County. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 9:56 |
Location:
Bridgeport |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: BlackBilledMagpie_D5X8658-Bridgeport |
© 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |

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