About Pica mauritanica Malherbe, 1845
The Maghreb magpie, with the scientific name Pica mauritanica Malherbe, 1845, is a magpie species native to North Africa, occurring from Morocco eastward to Tunisia. It can be told apart from the Eurasian magpie by several features: a patch of blue skin behind its eye, a narrower white belly, shorter wings, and a longer tail. A 2018 molecular phylogenetic study found that the Maghreb magpie is the sister species to a clade that includes all other members of the genus Pica. In recent years, the Maghreb magpie population in Tunisia has declined. Research shows that depredation of nestlings by the southern grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis), Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) and black rat (Rattus rattus) is the most important cause of nest failure for this population. The Maghreb magpie is also subject to brood parasitism by the great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius).
