About Urocissa erythroryncha (Boddaert, 1783)
The head, neck, and breast of Urocissa erythroryncha are black, with bluish spotting on the crown. The shoulders and rump are a duller violet-blue, while the underparts are greyish cream. The long tail is a brighter violet-blue, the same color as the wing primaries, and has a broad white tip. The bill, legs, feet, and the ring around each eye are all bright orange-red; this red can vary across the species' range to almost yellow in some individuals. This species, the red-billed blue magpie, occurs across a broad continuous area starting from the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, extending further eastward. Its range runs from the western Himalayas east into Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and through central and eastern China to southwest Manchuria. It inhabits evergreen forest and scrub in primarily hilly or mountainous terrain. The species has adapted to urban habitats, and can be found in large Chinese cities including Beijing and Hong Kong. Red-billed blue magpies build relatively shallow nests in trees and large shrubs. Females usually lay between three and five eggs per clutch. They search for food both in trees and on the ground. They eat a typical wide variety of food items, including invertebrates, other small animals, fruit, and some seeds. They also rob other birds' nests to eat eggs and chicks. This species is notably capable of vocal mimicry, and has highly varied calls. The most common calls are a grating rattle and a high-pitched whistle that resembles a flute.
