Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie , for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures , [1] [2] and is one of the few non-mammal species able to recognize itself in a mirror test.
In addition to other members of the genus Pica , corvids considered as magpies are in the genera Cissa , Urocissa , and Cyanopica. Magpies of the genus Pica are generally found in temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and western North America, with populations also present in Tibet and high-elevation areas of Kashmir.
The birds called magpies in Australia are, however, not related to the magpies in the rest of the world. References dating back to Old English call the bird a "pie", derived from Latin pica and cognate to French pie ; this term has fallen out of use.
The magpie was originally variously maggie pie and mag pie. According to some studies, magpies do not form the monophyletic group they are traditionally believed to be; tails have elongated or shortened independently in multiple lineages of corvid birds.
One consists of Holarctic species with black and white colouration, and is probably closely related to crows and Eurasian jays.
