Red-billed Blue Magpie (Urocissa flavirostris) from Panchase Forest, Nepal

Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae Genus: Urocissa Species: U. flavirostris Binomial name Urocissa flavirostris (Blyth, 1846)
Length 26 inches, including tail of about 18 inches.   Sexes alike.  Head,neck  and breast black, with a white patch on the nape ; remainder of lower plumage white, faintly tinged with lilac ; whole upper plumage purplish-blue, brighter on the wings and tail: flight-feather tipped with white, the outermost edged with thesame ; tail long and graduated, the feathers blue, broadly tipped with white, all except the very long central pair having a band of black in front of the white It is divided into two races. Of these U. f. culcutta is the better known and is found from the Western boundary of the range to Western Nepal, being a common species about most of the hill stations of the Weatern Himalayas breeding in a zone from 5000 to 10,000 feet.  The typical form is found from Eastern Nepal eastwards and differs in that the under parts have a darker lilac tinge ; its zone is slightly higher than that of the Western form, as it seldom occurs 'as low as 6000 feet.  A resident species, but during the winter months it usually deserts the higher parts of its summer zone. From Simla eastwards the closely allied Red-billed Blue-Magpie (Urocissa melanocephala) is often found in the same areas as the yellow-billed species ; it is particularly common about Mussoorie, Tehri-Garhwal, -Kumaon, and in Nepal, and may be easily distinguished by its red beak and the greater extent of the white nape-patch.  They live in parties of seven or eight birds and are very partial to particular localities, so that once a party has taken up its abode in any particular nullah or patch of forest it will generally be found there.  They are very active, flying incessantly from bough to bough and not hesitating to launch high into the air when flying from ridge to ridge; a party of these bird crossing a nullah out of gun-shot above one's head is a curious sight, with their long tails waving in the air and the light shining through the feathers.  The flight is rather slow, laboured and undulating once the bird comes into the open.  The food consists of small mammals, the eggs and young of other birds, insects, and wild fruits and berries of various kinds.  This bird is very noisy; the ordinary call is harsh and grating, but it has a wide variety of notes, some of which are melodious enough. The nest is built in a fork of a tree, usually of moderate size but with dense foliage, and is difficult to find. It is a rather large and roughly constructed cup of sticks with a lining of fine grass, roots and fibres.  The clutch consists of three or four eggs.  The ground-colour varies from a pale, dingy yellowish-stone colour to a darkish rather reddish-stone colour, and there is very occasionally a faint greenish tinge.  The markings consist of small specks, blotches, streaks, and mottlings of various shades of brown, sienna 1 or purple, and they generally tend to collect in a cap or zone about the broad end of the egg.