Taiwan blue magpie

The Taiwan blue magpie was collected by Robert Swinhoe and described by John Gould.[3] Swinhoe called it the "Long-tailed Mountain-Nymph".[4] The species is sometimes placed in the genus Cissa. It forms a superspecies with the yellow-billed blue magpie (Urocissa flavirostris) and the red-billed blue magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha). The species is monotypic.[5]

The Taiwan blue magpie is endemic to Taiwan. It lives in broadleaf forests at elevations of 300–1,200 m (980–3,940 ft).[5]

Taiwan blue magpie in flight

It is 63–68 cm (25–27 in) in length. The tail measures around 34–42 cm (13–17 in) in length, and the wings are 20 cm (7.9 in) long.[6] It weighs 254–260 g (9.0–9.2 oz).[5]

The plumages of the male and female are similar. The head, neck and breast are black. The eyes are yellow, and the bill and feet are red. The rest of the plumage is mostly blue. The wings and tail feathers have white tips.[7] The underwing-coverts are dark grey, and the flight feathers are light grey. The uppertail-coverts have black tips.[6] The central pair of tail feathers are the longest. The other tail feathers have black bands. Chicks are greyish, with a short tail and greyish-blue eyes.[7]

Taiwan blue magpies are not very afraid of people. They can be found near human residences in the mountains or newly cultivated lands.[8] They are gregarious and are usually found in groups of three to twelve. The birds often fly in a line, following each other.[7] This is sometimes called "long-tailed formation".[9]

Similar to other members of the crow family, they have a raucous call which is described as a high-pitched cackling chatter, kyak-kyak-kyak-kyak. Other calls include ga-kang, ga-kang, kwee-eep and gar-suee.[10]

Taiwan blue magpies have attacked humans to defend their nests.[12][14] Taiwan blue magpies are sometimes illegally captured by humans, but the number of cases of this seems to have decreased.[15]

In the 2007 National Bird Voting Campaign held by the Taiwan International Birding Association, there were over 1 million votes cast from 53 countries.[16] The Taiwan blue magpie defeated the Mikado pheasant in the vote, but the vote was not formally accepted.

In 2017 China Airlines unveiled a Taiwan blue magpie paint scheme on an Airbus A350. The aircraft was the 100th A350 produced by Airbus.[17]

The AIDC XAT-5 Blue Magpie advanced jet trainer is named after the Taiwan blue magpie.[18]

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has currently assessed the species to be of least concern as it does not meet the criteria to be vulnerable. The population trend is suspected to be stable.[1] Due to its endemism, however, the Taiwan blue magpie has been listed as other conservation-deserving wildlife (Chinese: 其他應予保育之野生動物)[19] and protected by Taiwan's Wildlife Conservation Act (Chinese: 野生動物保育法).

There is a small population of red-billed blue magpies that has been introduced to Wuling Farm in Taichung County (now part of Taichung City). In 2007, three hybrid chicks were found in a nest in Taichung, with red-billed and Taiwan magpie parents tending them. This caused some concern to conservationists, given the decline of the Taiwan hwamei due to the invasion of the Chinese hwamei. However, the Endemic Species Research Institute of Taiwan has been working to control red-billed magpie populations by capturing individual birds and relocating their nests.[20]

• List of protected species in Taiwan
• List of endemic birds of Taiwan
• List of endemic species of Taiwan

• Ka-shiang, Liu. "The Long-Tailed Fairy of the Forest: In Search of the Formosan Blue Magpie." Tzu Chi Quarterly.
• "Formosan blue magpie." ROC Government Information Office.
• Pictures of Formosan blue magpie
• Sounds
• Videos of Formosan blue magpie (links are at the bottom)
• 台灣藍鵲 (in Chinese)