Urocissa is a genus of birds in the Corvidae, a family that contains the crows, jays, and magpies.

The genus was established by German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850. The type species was subsequently designated as the red-billed blue magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha). The name Urocissa combines the Ancient Greek oura meaning "tail" and kissa meaning "magpie" .

Species

The genus contains five species:

Genus Urocissa – Cabanis, 1851 – five species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Taiwan blue magpieUrocissa caerulea Gould, 1863TaiwanSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Red-billed blue magpieUrocissa erythroryncha (Boddaert, 1783) Five subspecies U. e. occipitalis (Blyth, 1846)U. e. magnirostris (Blyth, 1846)U. e. alticola Birckhead, 1938U. e. brevivexilla R. Swinhoe, 1874U. e. erythroryncha (Boddaert, 1783)Western Himalayas eastwards into Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and ChinaSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Yellow-billed blue magpieUrocissa flavirostris (Blyth, 1846)Indian subcontinent including the lower Himalayas, with a disjunct population in VietnamSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Sri Lanka blue magpieUrocissa ornata (Wagler, 1829)Sri LankaSize: Habitat: Diet:VU
White-winged magpieUrocissa whiteheadi Ogilvie-Grant, 1899Southern China, northern Vietnam, and north and central LaosSize: Habitat: Diet:EN

Notes

External links

  • Media related to Urocissa at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Urocissa at Wikispecies