This unmistakable and beautiful corvid can be found year-round
anywhere in the province except in the northeastern Canadian
Shield. They are most common in grass and parkland. Magpies thrive
in wide-open spaces, leaving the deep forests to their crow and
raven cousins. Magpies flourished with, and then declined with the
great bison herds of earlier days. But these adaptable birds have
returned in numbers with cattle and people. Like all corvids the
Black-billed Magpie is an opportunistic omnivore hunting or
foraging for seeds, fruit, insects, carrion, eggs and occasionally
the nestlings of other birds. They enjoy suet, peanuts and other
treats at feeders, and are quick to exploit any pet food left
outdoors. The nest is a fortress-like domed structure of sticks
with one or two entrances, usually in a small tree or within
shrubbery. The nest cup is fortified with mud and soft materials.
As few as two, or as many as nine eggs are incubated for 14 to 23
days. Young are fledged in three or four weeks.