Alternative names: White-winged Blue Magpie; Whitehead's Magpie
- Urocissa whiteheadi
Identification
43 - 46cm. A bulky-bodied, distinctive forest magpie.
- Sooty brown head, neck and breast
- Greyish underparts, shading into pale yellowish on belly and undertail-coverts
- Blackish upperparts, yellowish rump and greyish uppertail-coverts
- Upperwings boldly patterned white to yellowish-white on blackish background
- White lesser and median coverts, forming a band along leading edge of wing
- Long, largely black tail with grey central feathers and all feathers with yellow-white or white tips
- Heavy red bill
- Pale yellow eye, brownish-green bare eye patch
- Black legs
Sexes similar. Juveniles have yellowish-grey head and brownish eye.
Distribution
Found in South China (including Hainan) to Laos and northern Vietnam.
On the mainland still quite common but rare on Hainan.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies recognized:
- U. w. whiteheadi on Hainan
- U. w. xanthomelana in most of its range
Habitat
Tropical broadleaf evergreen forest. Also in secondary forest and edges of cultivation. Occurs from 50m up to 1400m.
Behaviour
Diet little known. Feeds apparently on invertebrates and berries.
A very sociable species. Moves through the forest in large groups of 20 or more birds.
Breeding little known. One described nest was a concave platform which contained 6 eggs.
A resident species.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-winged Magpie. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 8 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-winged_Magpie
