Magpies traditionally breed commonly around farms and villages, wherever there are a few trees and patches of short-cropped grass or bare ground. Adults may spend their entire lives on the same territory. It is thought that females select mates based on tail length. Pairs are monogamous and usually stay together from one breeding season to the next. Magpies prefer tall trees in which to build their roofed nest of sticks and twigs, usually in the crown of the tree, next to a central fork.
The female lays eggs 4-7 variable blue or olive or greenish, heavily speckled olive-brown eggs between April-May. She will incubate these for 20-21 days while the male feeds her. Parents will raise 1 brood a year. Magpies leave their nest around 30 days after hatching but are fed by their parents for a further four weeks. After this, juveniles from loose flocks wither other young birds. These are easily identified because their plumage is duller than adults. Sexual maturity is reached at 2 years of age.
For more information on magpie nesting, check out this guide.