Maghreb magpie explained

The Maghreb magpie (Pica mauritanica) is a species of magpie found in North Africa from Morocco east to Tunisia. It can be distinguished from the Eurasian magpie by the patch of blue skin behind its eye, the narrower white belly, the shorter wings, and the longer tail.^[1]

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018 found that the Maghreb magpie was sister to a clade containing all the other members of the genus Pica.^[2]

In recent years, the population of Maghreb magpie in Tunisia has been experiencing a decline. Research has shown that the cause of this is nest failure, mainly due to the depredation of nestlings by the southern grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis).^[3]

Notes and References

1. Web site: del Hoyo . J. . Collar . N. . Christie . D.A. . 2018 . Maghreb Magpie (Pica mauritanica) . del Hoyo . J. . Elliott . A. . Sargatal . J. . Christie . D.A. . de Juana . E. . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions . 20 July 2018 . subscription .
2. Song . S. . Zhang . R. . Alström . P. . Irestedt . M. . Cai . T. . Qu . Y. . Ericson . P.G.P. . Fjeldså . J. . Lei . F. . 2017 . Complete taxon sampling of the avian genus Pica (magpies) reveals ancient relictual populations and synchronous Late-Pleistocene demographic expansion across the Northern Hemisphere . Journal of Avian Biology . 49 . 2 . 1–14 . 10.1111/jav.01612 . free .
3. Nefla . Aymen . Ouni . Ridha . Selmi . Slaheddine . Nouira . Saïd . 2021-03-26 . Breeding biology of a relictual Maghreb Magpie (Pica mauritanica) population in Tunisia . Avian Research . 12 . 1 . 12 . 10.1186/s40657-021-00249-6 . free .