Taiwan blue magpie
| Taiwan blue magpie | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Genus: | Urocissa |
| Species: | U. caerulea |
| Binomial name | |
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Urocissa caerulea Gould, 1863 |
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The Taiwan blue magpie (Urocissa caerulea), also called the Taiwan magpie, Formosan blue magpie (Chinese: 臺灣藍鵲; pinyin: Táiwān lán què), or the "long-tailed mountain lady" (Chinese: 長尾山娘; pinyin: Chángwěi shānniáng; Taiwanese Hokkien: Tn̂g-boé soaⁿ-niû), is a species of bird of the crow family. It is endemic to Taiwan.
The Taiwan blue magpie was collected by Robert Swinhoe and described by John Gould. Swinhoe called it the "Long-tailed Mountain-Nymph". The Taiwan blue magpie is sometimes placed in the genus Cissa. It forms a superspecies with the yellow-billed blue magpie (Urocissa flavirostris) and the red-billed blue magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha). The species is monotypic.
The Taiwan blue magpie is endemic to Taiwan. It lives in broadleaf forests at elevations of 300–1,200 m (980–3,940 ft).
It is 63–68 cm (25–27 in) in length. The tail measures around 34–42 cm (13–17 in) in length. The wings are 20 cm (7.9 in) long. It weighs 254–260 g (9.0–9.2 oz).
The plumages of the male and female are similar. The head, neck and breast are black. The eyes are yellow. The bill and feet are red. The rest of the plumage on the bird is mostly blue. The wings and tail feathers have white tips. The underwing-coverts are dark grey, and the flight feathers are light grey. The uppertail-coverts have black tips. The central pair of tail feathers are the longest. The other tail feathers have black bands. Chicks are greyish, with a short tail and greyish-blue eyes.
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