Editing Azure-winged magpie

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Cyanopica cyanus'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T103721987A112291292 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T103721987A112291292.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = 2011 Blauelster in Shanghai.jpg
| image_caption = 
| genus = Cyanopica
| species = cyanus
| authority = ([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1776)
| range_map = Cyanopica cyanus distribution.png
| synonyms = ''Cyanopica cyana''
}}

The '''azure-winged magpie''' ('''''Cyanopica cyanus''''') is a [[bird]] in the [[Corvidae|crow family]]. It is 31–35&nbsp;cm long and similar in overall shape to the [[Eurasian magpie]] (''Pica pica'') but is more slender with proportionately smaller legs and [[beak|bill]]. It belongs to the genus ''[[Cyanopica]]''.

It has a glossy black top to the head and a white throat. The underparts and the back are a light grey-fawn in colour with the wings and the [[feather]]s of the long (16–20&nbsp;cm) tail an azure blue. It inhabits various types of [[conifer]]ous (mainly [[pine]]) and [[broadleaf forest]], including parks and gardens in the eastern populations.

==Distribution and habitat==
It occurs over a large region of [[Palearctic|eastern Asia]] in [[China]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]], and north into [[Mongolia]] and southern [[Siberia]]. The [[Iberian magpie]] from southwestern and central parts of the [[Iberian Peninsula]], in [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] was formerly thought to be conspecific, but recent genetic analysis has shown them to be distinct at species level.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Inferring the phylogeny of disjunct populations of the azure-winged magpie ''Cyanopica cyanus'' from mitochondrial control region sequences |last1=Fok |first1=Koon Wah |last2=Wade |first2=Christopher M. |last3=Parkin |first3=David T. |journal=Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B |volume=269 |issue=1501 |pages=1671–1678 |year=2002|doi=10.1098/rspb.2002.2057|pmid=12204127 |pmc=1691084}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kyukov |first1=Alexei |first2=Masahiro A. |last2=Iwasa |first3=Ryozo |last3=Kakizawa |first4=Hitoshi |last4=Suzuki |first5=Wilhelm |last5=Pinsker |first6=Elisabeth |last6=Haring |title=Synchronic east–west divergence in azure-winged magpies (''Cyanopica cyanus'') and magpies (''Pica pica'') |journal=Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=342–351 |year=2004 |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0469.2004.00287.x|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Behaviour and ecology==

Often azure-winged magpies find food as a family group or several groups making flocks of up to 70 birds. The largest groups congregate after the breeding season and throughout the winter months. Their diet consists mainly of [[acorn]]s ([[oak]] seeds) and [[pine nut]]s, extensively supplemented by [[invertebrate]]s and their larvae, soft [[fruit]]s and berries, and also human-provided scraps in parks and towns.

This species usually nests in loose, open colonies with a [[Bird nest|single nest]] in each [[tree]]. There are usually 6&ndash;8 [[Bird egg|eggs]] that are incubated for 15 days. Azure-winged magpies that have asynchronous broods, creating a size hierarchy among nestlings, produce more eggs and fledge more nestlings than those which have synchronous broods.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Da |first1=Xin-Wei |last2=Xian |first2=Li-Li |last3=Luo |first3=Juan-Juan |last4=Gao |first4=Li-Fang |last5=Du |first5=Bo  |year=2018 |title=Azure-winged Magpies ''Cyanopica cyanus'' trade off reproductive success and parental care by establishing a size hierarchy among nestlings |journal=Ibis |volume=160 |pages=769–778 |doi=10.1111/ibi.12575 |issue=4}}</ref>

The [[Bird call|voice]] is a quick fired and metallic sounding ''{{not a typo|kwink-kwink-kwink}}'' usually preceded by a single ''{{not a typo|krarrah}}''.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) in Tokyo.webm|left|Azure-winged magpie in Tokyo
File:Cyanopica cyana MWNH 1382.JPG|left|Eggs, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}
{{Commons}}
{{Corvidae|3}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q503807}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cyanopica]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1776]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]