Magpies 



Montana Department of Fish. Wildlife & Parks 



Crows, Ravens, and Magpies: 



Family Corvidae 



These bold, noisy birds can be seen 

 scavenging along highways for road kills. 

 They will eat practically anything. Crows 

 are smaller than ravens and have a dif- 

 ferent flight pattern— the raven hops like a 

 vulture before takeoff. Both make nests 

 that look like bundles of twigs in tall decid- 

 uous trees. The magpie nests along water- 

 ways. This extremely wary bird has a un- 

 ique tail that can rotate in a half-circle for 

 maneuverability. 



Another member of the numerous crow 

 family is the gray jay. These trim birds in- 

 habit the subalpine forests of western 

 Montana. Also called the camp robber, the 

 gray jay is a year-round resident, nesting 

 in carefully concealed places. Jays have an 

 unusual way of storing food by rolling it in 

 their beaks into a saliva-covered wad. They 

 then hide this mass under the bark of trees 

 for later use. 



Clark's crow or nutcracker is a jay whose 

 plumage has an eye-catching black and 

 white banding on the wings. It feeds on 

 pine nuts or may come into more open 

 areas after insects, berries, and carrion. Its 

 eggs are laid while the weather is still cold, 

 but the nest is well insulated with lichen 

 and feathers. 



Songbirds 



Most songbirds spend only the spring 

 and summer in Montana after wintering in 

 the southern United States or Central 

 America. Bluebirds nest and feed in the 

 sagebrush-covered benchlands and grass- 

 lands as well as near houses. They usually 

 lay four to six pale blue eggs. 



Meadowlarks, Montana's state bird, in- 

 habit much the same terrain, and, like the 

 bluebirds, also live close to farms and 

 towns. Meadowlarks are among the "early 

 birds." They often arrive from the south 

 during late spring snows, when they can be 

 seen picking up bits of sand or gravel and 

 the grain dropped from trucks along the 

 highways. (Like domestic birds, they need 

 grit for their gizzards.) Easily recognized 

 by the black shields on their yellow 

 breasts, the meadowlarks "stake out" 

 their territories by singing from fence 

 posts or shrubs along the boundaries. 



Robins sometimes winter in juniper 

 groves in the Rockies, but usually spend 

 only the warmer months here. They eat in- 

 sects of many kinds, as well as snails, ber- 

 ries, and worms. The three to four eggs are 

 a light blue, laid in nests built high in trees. 

 Robins like to live near people because food 

 is more plentiful on irrigated lawns and 

 fields. 



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