Black-billed magpie



Black-billed magpie, near St. Thomas, Ontario, July 30, 2023.
Very far away, heavily cropped and processed.
Saw 5 of the possible 6 in the area.
Unusual visitor this far east.
Pica hudsonia.
The Black-billed Magpie makes a very large nest that can take up to 40 days to construct. It's a lot of work, but a study found that it only used about 1% of the daily energy expenditure of the pair. Laying eggs, on the other hand, takes 23% of the female's daily energy budget.
source -Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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