Maghreb_magpie
Maghreb magpie
Species of bird
The Maghreb magpie (Pica mauritanica) is a species of magpie found in North Africa from Morocco east to Tunisia.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3]
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).[4]