Beautiful Taiwan Blue Magpie Bathing - long-tailed mountain lady

Beautiful Taiwan Blue Magpie Bathing
long-tailed mountain lady

The Taiwan blue magpie (Urocissa caerulea), also called the Taiwan magpie, Formosan blue magpie , or the "long-tailed mountain lady", is a species of bird of the crow family. It is endemic to Taiwan.
It lives in broadleaf forests at elevations of 300–1,200 m (980–3,940 ft)
It is 63–68 cm (25–27 in) in length. The tail measures around 34–42 cm (13–17 in) in length, and the wings are 20 cm (7.9 in) long.[6] It weighs 254–260 g (9.0–9.2 oz)

The plumages of the male and female are similar. The head, neck and breast are black. The eyes are yellow, and the bill and feet are red. The rest of the plumage is mostly blue. The wings and tail feathers have white tips. The underwing-coverts are dark grey, and the flight feathers are light grey. The uppertail-coverts have black tips. The central pair of tail feathers are the longest. The other tail feathers have black bands. Chicks are greyish, with a short tail and greyish-blue eye. Taiwan blue magpies are not very afraid of people. They can be found near human residences in the mountains or newly cultivated lands.

Taiwan blue magpies are scavengers and omnivores. Their diet includes snakes, rodents, small insects, carrion, eggs and chicks of other birds, plants, fruits, and seeds. They also feed on food waste of humans. They sometimes store leftovers on the ground and cover them with leaves for future retrieval. Sometimes they store food in the leaves or branches.
The breeding season is from March to July. The Taiwan blue magpie is monogamous. Females incubate eggs while males help with nest building and feeding. Their nests are built on high branches of trees. The nest is in the shape of a bowl and is made of twigs. Usually there are 3–8 eggs in a clutch. Eggs are light green in color, with brown marks. Hatching takes 17–19 days. There are 3–7 chicks per nest. Chicks leave the nest after 21–24 days, and can start flying for short distances after a few days. Some pairs breed a second time after this. The Taiwan blue magpie has helpers at the nest, mostly juveniles from previous breeding seasons. They help to feed the chicks and defend the nest. Taiwan blue magpies have a strong nest defence behaviour, and will attack intruders until they leave.