Vol.6 No.6

2009.6.24.

Azure-winged Magpie

Onaga (Jpn) Cyanopica cyana

Morphology and classification

Flock:

Total length: 366.8mm (319-390) Wing length: 130.7mm (122-141)
Tail length: 214.8mm (192-240) Culmen length: 25.7mm (24-30)
Tarsus length: 33.3mm (32-35)
Weight: 83.4g (69-96)
Measurements by Kuzu (1942).

Appearance:
Azure-winged Magpies are similar inplumage coloration in males and females. Males are slightly larger thanfemales in body size. They are gray on
the upperpart and white or light grayon the underpart (Photo 1). The headis black. The wing and tail are pale Photo. 1. Azure-winged
Magpie. [Hiroshi Uchida]blue or bluish gray. The flight feathers
are black in the inner vane and pale
blue in the outer one. The primary flight feathers
are white from the middle to the tip in the outervane. There is a long white patch of about 2 cm at
the tip of the central rectrix. The bill and feet areblack. The iris is dark brown. The tail feathers ofjuveniles are characteristically short in the center Photo. 2. Juve(Photo 2), with white edge band of about several
nile tailmillimeters. The greater wing coverts and alula arefeathers
also white at the tip. The molting of juvenile plumage in autumn varies relative to the hatching dates. In the tail feathers, juveniles usually molt 0-4 pairs (usually 1-3 pairs in adults)
from the center, but birds which hatched in late August do not molt
their tail feathers and alula at all (Harada 1993). Therefore, thewhite edge of the tail feathers makes it possible to distinguish juveniles from adults. In addition, juveniles do not molt the primarywing covert either, which is more tinged with gray.

Vocalization:
Azure-winged Magpies call "Gurr", "Gay" and "Geh-i" in a thickand hoarse voice or "Koo-i" and "Kuiee, kooi-kui" in a clear voice.
They also whisper "Pyu-i", "Pyu-i, kich-kich-kich" and "Ryui, ryui".

Distribution and Habitat
Distribution:
Azure-winged Magpies are separately distributed in the Iberian
Peninsula, westernmost Europe and in the Far East (Japan, theKorean Peninsula, northeastern China and the Amur valley). InJapan, they are presently distributed from central to northern Honshu (from Fukui, Gifu and Aichi to Aomori Prefectures) (the Ministry of the Environment 2004). However, they lived in northern
Kyushu (the southernmost main island of Japan) until the 1960s.
They were also recorded to occur in Shimane, Hyogo, Wakayama
and Ehime Prefs, southwestern Japan (Hosono 1972). The distribution of Azure-winged Magpies is fluid as is shown by their rapid
range expansion in Nagano Pref., central Japan (Hosono 1969).

Habitat:
They do not occur in a continuously extended forest but in an open
habitat scattered with groves and shrubs and riparian woodlands.
In addition, they are found in residential quarters and urban green
spaces and parks as well as in an artificially modified habitat, suchas holiday cottage areas of highlands, farmland and villages in theravine of a mountain.

Life history
12
4

2

3

4

non-breeding season

56

7

8

9

10

11

Breeding system:
They are basically monogamous breeders (Hosono 1966, 1971), butrarely breed in polygamy temporarily (in the early nest-building period). They maintain their pair-bond until they lose their partner(Harada & Yamagishi 1992).

Nest:
Azure-winged Magpies usually breed in the backyard of a house andat the edge of a grove around it, but they also nest in a park and roadside trees. They use as a nest tree various species of evergreen broadleaved trees, broad-leaved deciduous trees and conifers. They build anest at the fork of branches and on a branch with dense young twigs at
a height of 1-13m above the ground. The nest size is 30 by 25cm and13cm in depth with an inner cup 11cm across and 6cm deep(Kakizawa & Kogaito 1999). Males and females build a nest together,using tree branches for the exterior, laying mud in the center of thebase and surrounding it with mosses. In addition, they pile up mosses,bark, grass roots and dead leaves in the shape of a bowl, and lay barkand fine grass roots in the inner cup (Hosono 1966, 1971).
The pair of magpies occasionally build a nest singly, but they tend tonest in a loose colony. The distance between nests in a flock is mostly
5-35m, with a range of 3-150m. There was no relationship between
breeding success and nest distance (Fig. 1). It is also known that they
nest in the breeding territory of Japanese Sparrowhawks Accipiter
gularis (Ueta 2001).
20

fledging failure

15

fledging success

1050Fig. 1. Nest
distance tothe nearest
neighbor
and reproductive
success.

distance between nests (m)Egg:
The clutch size was most commonly 5-7 eggs
with the mean 5.8 eggs (range; 3-8 eggs). The
egg is 26.4 by 19.8mm in size and 5.1g in
weight (Hosono 1966). The outer shell isscattered with dark brown and gray flecks
primarily at the blunt end on a pale brown or
pale greenish gray ground.

Photo 3. Egg of Azure-winged Magpie.

breeding season♪ http://www.bird-research.jp/1_shiryo/koe/onaga_070411_kokubunji_mju.mp3
Mutsuyuki Ueta

Azure-winged Magpies live in a flock in the breeding and nonbreeding seasons, holding their flock territory throughout the year(Hosono 1989). In breeding period they roost in a flock except for
females incubating eggs and nestlings. In Nagano Pref., for instance,
the mean flock and home range sizes were 23 birds (9-45) and 21.8 ha(11-48), respectively in Kawanakajima (Hosono 1968), 28.7 birds and135.1ha (103-243) in Ina, and 16.7 birds and 287.6 ha (130-376) inNobeyama (Imanishi 2003). In Saitama Pref., on the other hand, they
were 24 birds (17-31, n = 16) and 13.4ha (6.2-24.8, n = 11) respectively in Tokorozawa, where Azure-winged Magpies are assumed tooccur in the highest density. They also roost in a flock, but more than
one flock occasionally roosted together in the same site. They use as aroost site a dense thicket of bamboo, a coniferous wood and a broadleaved deciduous wood. A coniferous wood and a thicket of bamboo
were used with higher frequency in winter, but a broad-leaved deciduous wood was preferred in summer.
There is a dominance hierarchy in a flock, with males above females
and adults higher than subadults under one year of age in rank. Of
fledglings males remain in their natal flock, but females mostly leave
the flock. When males lost their partner, they generally remain in
their own flock. When females lost their partner, however, some ofthem leave their flock to find a new mate. It is not uncommon forpairs to leave their own flock and join another flock (Harada &Yamagishi 1992).

～5～10～15～20～25～30～35～40～45～50～55～60～65～70～75～80～85～90～95～100～105～110～115～120～125～130～135～140～145～150～155～160

Classification: Passeriformes Corvidae

number of nests

Bird Research News♪ http://www.bird-research.jp/1_shiryo/koe/onaga_120506_kokubunji_mju.mp3
Mutsuyuki Ueta

Bird Research News

Vol.6 No.6

2009.6.24.

© Japan Bird Research Association
Sumiyoshi 1-29-9, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan

バードリサーチ生態図鑑

Incubation and nestling periods:

such as nest material delivery, nest building, the feeding of incubating females, nestlings and fledglings, the disposal of nestling
fecal sacs and the mobbing of predators.
Helpers are single or breeding males in Azure-winged Magpies(Yamagishi 1986, Harada & Yamagishi 1992). Single male helpers
are birds which were born in the previous year and remained intheir natal flock without finding a female partner. They help theirparents or brothers with their breeding, or other pairs in their own
flock when they have no parents or brothers to help. Once they
have found their own partner, however, they stop helping. Fledglings rarely become a helper in the year they were born. Single
male helpers are mostly birds that fledged late in the breeding
period.
Breeding male helpers are one year old or more and assist breedingpairs in their own flock after they have finished their own breedingwhether their breeding is successful or failed. However, they usually help their own father or son. Males which are still raising theirown young, single adults and mated females may also help otherbreeding pairs in their flock (Komeda et al. 1987).

Azure-winged Magpies are sexually mature by one year. Birds which
fledged in the previous year represent 21% of breeding males and18% of breeding females (Harada & Yamagishi 1992). They generally breed once a year, but 14% of the breeding pairs bred twice a year.
The breeding starts from late April to early May, and the last nestlings
fledge in mid-September. The egg-laying period is from mid-May to
mid-August and reaches its peak from late May to early June. Females lay eggs everyday. The incubation period is 15 days and nestlings fledge 17-18 days after hatching (Hosono 1966, 1971). Females
incubate eggs and nestlings, while males feed incubating females.
Both the male and female feed the nestlings. Fledglings are provided
with food by the parent birds for about one and a half months. The
brood size was 4.8 birds on average one or two days after hatching,and 4.2 birds (2-7) on average 15 days after hatching. The clutch andbrood sizes decrease as the egg-laying becomes late.

Breeding success:The breeding success varies depending on the region, year and flock.
In Tokorozawa, near Tokyo nestlings fledged in 31% of the nests
where eggs were laid (n = 99). The circumstantial evidence showedthat nest predators were Large-billed Crows (Corvus macrorhynchos),Japanese rat snake (Elaphe climacophora) and cats. Carrion Crows(C. corone) were also suspected as a predator. In Nagano Pref., on theother hand, Azure-winged Magpies were reported to be highly frequently parasitized by Common Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus)(Nakamura 1990, Yamagishi & Fujioka 1986).

Diet and foraging behavior
The study of 408 Azure-winged Magpie stomach contents conducted
throughout the year in Chiba and Saitama Prefs. showed that the dietof Azure-winged Magpies consisted of insects (imagos of coleoptera
and larvae of lepidoptera), spiders, amphibians (frogs) and the fruits
and seeds of plants (oriental elm, mulberry, multiflora rose, picrasma
wood, wild grape, Eurya japonica, Japanese beauty-berry, Paederia
scandens and elder) (Kuzu, 1942).
In the breeding period, they mostly feed in the upper layer of a tree,
but feed on the ground in the non-breeding season. In Tokorozawa,
Saitama Pref., for instance, more than 50% of the feeding was on theground from December to April, with the proportion exceeding 70%
from January to March (Fig. 2). They chiefly ate fallen fruits or seeds
on the ground in winter. They occasionally cached fruits under thefallen leaves on the ground. They often scavenge for scraps, fruits
and meat in the garbage as well. Azure-winged Magpies live in residential areas probably because food scraps are readily available tothem. They also prey on other bird eggs and scavenge for animal
carcasses. They are hated by farmers because they do not hesitate toeat fruits in the orchards or backyards, such as persimmons, pears,apples, cherries and strawberries. They may be destroyed as a pest
species.
100upper layer of woods
mid-layer of woods
lower layer of woods
tree trunk in woods
undergrowth in woods
the ground in woods
fieldsothersratio (%)

80
60
400

Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
FebMarApr

20Fig. 2. Seasonalchange offeeding
location.

Topics of ecology, behavior and conservation● Helpers
Azure-winged Magpies are known to have helpers which assist
breeding pairs in raising their nestlings. Helpers carry out tasks,

Literature
Hosono T. 1966. A study of the life history of Blue Magpie (I). 1. Breeding. J.
Yamashina Inst. Ornithol., 4:327-343. [J+E]
Hosono T. 1969. A study of the life history of Blue Magpie 6. Distribution andmovements in Nagano area 1. J. Yamashina Inst. Ornithol., 5:659-230. [J+E]
Hosono T. 1971. A study of the life history of Blue Magpie 7. Breeding ecology 2.
J. Yamashina Inst. Ornithol., 6:231-249. [J+E]
Hosono T. 1972. Distribution of the Azure-winged Magpie in Japan -1970-. Yacho,
37:210-216. [J]Hosono T. 1989. Characteristic Features of Group Living Life of the Azure-wingedMagpie Cyanopica cyana. Jpn. J. Ornithol., 37:103-127. [J+E]
Imanishi S. 2002. The home range and flock size of the Azure-winged Magpie
Cyanopica cyana during the non-breeding season in Nagano Prefecture. Jpn. J.
Ornithol., 51:62-73. [J+E]
Kakizawa R. & Kogaito G. 1995. Pictorial Book on the Nest and Egg of JapaneseBirds, Sekaibunkasha. [J]The Ministry of the Environment. 2004. The 6th natural environmental preservationbase investigation - species diversity investigation - Birds breeding distribution
investigation report book, p.256. The Ministry of the Environment Nature Conservation Bureau Biodiversity Center. [J]
Komeda S., Yamagishi S. & Fujioka M. 1987. Cooperative breeding in Azurewinged Magpie, Cyanopica cyana, living in a region of heavy snowfall. Condor,
89:835-841.
Kuzu S. 1942. Result of the diet study of the Azure-winged Magpie. Birds andwildlife study report, 10:129-242. [J]Harada S. 1993. Age determination of the Azure-winged Magpie, Cyanopica cyana(Aves) by moult patterns of alulae, some wing-coverts and rectrices. Raffles
Bull. Zool. 45(2):265-273.
Harada S. & Yamagishi S. 1992. Communal breeding of the Azure-winged Magpie. Ito Y. ed. "Cooperation and attack in animal society" pp.161-184. Tokai
Univ. Pub., [J]Nakamura H. 1990. Brood Parasitism by the Cuckoo Cuculus canorus in Japan andthe Start of New Parasitism on the Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyana. Jpn.
J. Ornithol. 39:1-18.
Ueta M. 2001. Azure-winged magpies avoid nest predation by breeding synchronously with Japanese lesser sparrowhawks. Animal Behaviour 61:1007-1012.
Yamagishi S. 1986. Origin of communal breeding systems in birds. Yamagishi S.
ed. Breeding Strategy of Birds (Vol. 2), pp.88-126. Tokai Univ. Pub., [J]Yamagishi S. & Fujioka M. 1986. Heavy brood parasitism by the Common Cuckoo
Cuculus canorus on the Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyana. Tori 34:91-96.

AuthorShunji HARADA IDEA Consultants, Inc.
I studied Azure-winged magpies in Tokorozawa,Saitama Pref. and Azumino, Nagano Pref.. Now I work
for an environmental consultant company. I havestopped my bird study since I started to work for thecompany, but I have wanted to resume the study because I have had some free time these days. I wish toexpress my gratitude to the Japan Bird Research Association which has given me a chance to sum up
the results of my study.

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