Oriental magpie

Pica serica

The Oriental magpie (Pica serica) is a bird found in Taiwan, China, South Korea and Hong Kong SAR China. Fields, villages and towns across East Asia. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, small mammals and birds and reptiles and frogs. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Pica serica
Region	Asia
Found in	Taiwan, China, South Korea and Hong Kong SAR China

🏡 Where the Oriental magpie lives

Fields, villages and towns across East Asia.

🍽️ What it eats

🐛 Insects & bugs20%
🐭 Mammals & birds20%
🦎 Reptiles & frogs20%
🦴 Leftovers (carrion)20%
🍎 Fruit10%
🌰 Seeds & nuts10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It builds a big dome nest of sticks high in a tree.

Hear the Oriental magpie

Recorded by Joan Theng (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1156235. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Oriental magpie

Where does the Oriental magpie live?

The Oriental magpie lives in Taiwan, China, South Korea and Hong Kong SAR China. Fields, villages and towns across East Asia.

What does the Oriental magpie eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 20%), small mammals and birds (about 20%), reptiles and frogs (about 20%), dead animals (carrion) (about 20%), fruit (about 10%), seeds and nuts (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Oriental magpie endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Asia

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.