Pica (bird)
Pica is a genus of seven species of birds in the family Corvidae in both the New World and the Old. It is one of several corvid genera whose members are known as magpies. Pica have long tails and predominantly black and white markings. After Corvus, this genus is the second most widespread within the Corvidae family, being distributed across Eurasia, north Africa, and western North America. Molecular phylogeny suggests that Pica is most closely related to nutcrackers, jackdaws and crows and ravens.
Taxonomy
The genus Pica was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. He derived the name by tautonymy from the specific epithet of the Eurasian magpie Corvus pica which was introduced by Linnaeus in 1758. Pica is the Latin word for the Eurasian magpie.In 2018, a molecular phylogenetic study found that the Eurasian magpie consisted of multiple species including the Maghreb magpie, the Asir magpie, the black-rumped magpie and the oriental magpie.
Species
The genus contains seven living species:A cladogram was established in AP Kryukov's 2025 study.