Yellow billed Magpie Population Status and Ecology in the Sacramento Region

Dan’s talk covers his studies of the Yellow-billed Magpie population that occupies parks and other open-space areas within the urban Sacramento area. Dan documents the previously unstudied ecology of Central Valley magpie populations. He also describes new information that explains the occurrence and abundance of magpies in this area. He solves the mystery of how magpies appear to have maintained stable and healthy populations in this urban area, while populations in more rural areas have been decimated by West Nile virus.
Speaker Bio:
Dan Airola is a Wildlife Biologist and Ornithologist, who has lived in the Central Valley since 1985. Dan conducts research and conservation efforts for birds of concern in northern California, often with a community science component. He began studies of Yellow-billed Magpies during 2020 after discovering that almost no ecological study of the species had occurred in the Central Valley. His other research and conservation program species include the Tricolored Blackbird, Purple Martin, Swainson’s Hawk, Osprey, and migratory and wintering songbirds. He is a Board member and Conservation Chair of the Central Valley Bird Club, and Editor of the journal Central Valley Birds. His recent book on 30 years of Purple Martin research and management is available at cvbirds.org.

[@allenstitt]

Thanks for all your hard work and providing if to the world. The video is very interesting. Having moved from the bay area to Manteca in 2008, one of the first things I discovered were numerous Yellow Billed Magpies throughout my neighborhood. Thanks to Google I was able to learn what they were and a little bit about them. I was so impressed by their beauty that I named my Mediterranean style back yard "La Gaza Giardino" (Italian for The Magpie Garden).
I have no scientific input but I can confirm that where I live in Manteca, south of CA 120 and within a mile of the San Joaquin River, I've often seen Yellow Billed Magpies foraging in groups or drinking from my fountain or perched on rooftops. They love the green grass lawns but I never see them on my artificial turf. For some strange reason, they frequently can be seen on the blacktop streets around the local neighborhoods but not on the concrete walks. I suspect the blacktop is porous enough to provide a place for small bugs and such. The very tall Box Elder trees close by provide great nesting places for them and, often times during the spring months in particular, I can see many in a single day. However, the groups seem to move about to different neighborhoods as most days I see none and, usually, they only stay for a few hours before moving on. I have not noticed them preferring large areas as they did in the study but, of course, I see them frequently where I live because that is where I am most all the time. The groups I see where I live seem to have indeed adapted very well to urban life. I cannot tell if they are flourishing or not because I'm so used to them by now that I usually don't pay much attention to them any more.

[@tamooz6649]

As an undergrad going into Environmental Studies who has taken Ornithology, I love Yellow Billed Magpies. The points abput foraging in groups I have noticed in my own observations too, I wonder if their foraging is meant to be a social aspect as well. I also notice them on electrical towers in groups too. It was also nice to see my area represented :), Howe park is a great place to find magpies now Im curious about those nest sites! Great video, I hope to make my own some day to further research on magpies 😊