page_title: Red-billed blue magpie
section_title: Habits and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Red-billed blue magpie / Description / Habits and habitat
caption_attribution_description: English: Red-billed blue magpie Scientific name: Urocissa erythroryncha Shimla Water Catchment Wildlife Sanctuary H.P.
context_page_description: The red-billed blue magpie is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae. It is about the same size as the Eurasian magpie but has a much longer tail, one of the longest tails of any corvid. It is 65–68 cm long and weighs 196–232 g.
context_section_description: The red-billed blue magpie occurs in a broad swathe from the northern parts of the Indian Subcontinent, and further eastwards. It ranges from the Western Himalayas eastwards into Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and through central and eastern China to southwest Manchuria, in evergreen forest and scrub in predominantly hilly or mountainous country. It has adapted to urban habitat and can be seen in large cities in China such as Beijing and Hong Kong. They nest in trees and large shrubs in a relatively shallow nest. There are usually three to five eggs laid.
  Food is sought both in trees and on the ground. It takes the usual wide range of food, such as invertebrates, other small animals, and fruit and some seeds. It robs nests of eggs and also chicks. Vocal mimicry is very apparent in this species and its calls are very varied, but the most usual are a grating rattle and a high pitched whistle a little like a flute.
caption: Red-billed blue magpie in Shimla Water Catchment Wildlife Sanctuary H.P.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 1200D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image DateTime": "2016:02:06 16:33:44", "Image Artist": "Sunil_Sharma", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Rating": "0", "Image Tag 0x4749": "0", "Image Copyright": "SUNIL_SHARMA", "Image ExifOffset": "2384", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "12132", "Image SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "Image RecommendedExposureIndex": "400", "Image XPAuthor": "Sunil_Sharma", "Image CameraOwnerName": "", "Image BodySerialNumber": "058072088710", "Image LensSpecification": "[55, 250, 0/0, 0/0]", "Image LensModel": "EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II", "Image LensSerialNumber": "0000264413", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:02:06 16:33:44", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:02:06 16:33:44", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "7", "EXIF ApertureValue": "5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "250", "EXIF SubSecTime": "17", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "17", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "17", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5184", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4118"}