DENDROLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Crows are usually larger than magpies, but magpies have a much longer tail. Magpies tend to be black and white, blue, or green, whereas most crows are completely black. Crows make distinctive cup-shaped nests, while magpies’ nests are dome-shaped.

Detailed explanation-2: -Yellow-billed Magpies are fairly common and conspicuous over much of central California, from Redding south to Santa Barbara, and most common in the Central Valley where oak woodlands intermingle with plains, orchards, or agricultural fields.

Detailed explanation-3: -magpie, any of several long-tailed birds belonging to the family Corvidae (order Passeriformes). The best-known species, often called the black-billed magpie (Pica pica), is a 45-centimetre (18-inch) black-and-white (i.e., pied) bird, with an iridescent blue-green tail.