Endangered
Asir Magpie
Pica asirensis
The Asir magpie, also known as the Arabian magpie, is a highly endangered species of magpie endemic to Saudi Arabia.
Appearance
Its shoulders and belly are white. Its tail is black with purple to bronze-green iridescence. Compared to the Eurasian magpie, the Asir magpie has longer and stouter bill and legs, darker plumage with reduced white on the scapulars, and a black rump.
The Asir magpie is about 45–46 cm (18–18 in) long, and its weight is 200–240 g (7.1–8.5 oz).
Range and habitat
The Asir magpie primarily lives above 2,150 m (7,050 ft), mostly from 2,400–3,000 m (7,900–9,800 ft), in thick shady African juniper forests or dense mixed forests. The Asir magpie, also known as the Arabian magpie, is a highly endangered species of magpie endemic to Saudi Arabia. It is only found in the country's southwestern highlands, in the Asir Mountains.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Life history
This species is highly threatened by habitat destruction, as its native forests are not regenerating.
In crisis
Tourism development and climate change are also posing a threat. Only 135 pairs (270 mature individuals) are known to survive in the wild, and this number is declining.
Asir Magpie is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Asir Magpie, Wikidata item Q55115024. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
