Crows (Corvidae)

Yellow-billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli) - HBW 14, p. 605

French: Pie à bec jaune German: Gelbschnabelelster Spanish: Urraca de Nuttall

Taxonomy: Corvus nutalli [sic] Audubon, 1837, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
Forms a superspecies with P. pica, P. asirensis and P. hudsonia. Sometimes treated as conspecific with first and/or last of those; recent analysis of mitochondrial genome suggests that P. hudsonia and present species are sister-taxa, closely related to P. pica, the three exhibiting low average divergence (only 2.35%), suggesting that they may be better considered conspecific. Emended spelling of species name has prevailing usage. Monotypic.

Distribution: California W of Sierra Nevada Mts (Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and valleys of S Coast Ranges), in SW USA.