Sri Lanka blue magpie

Urocissa ornata

The Sri Lanka blue magpie or Ceylon magpie is a member of the crow family living in the hill forests of Sri Lanka, where it is endemic.

This is a species of a dense wet evergreen temperate rain forest. It is declining due to loss of this habitat. Sri Lanka Blue Magpie is usually found in small groups of up to six or seven birds. It is largely carnivorous, eating small frogs, lizards, insects and other invertebrates, but will eat fruit.
Sri Lanka Blue Magpie closeup sideview, Sinharaja, Sri Lanka After observing us for 10 minutes as we were taking shelter from heavy rain in a small shed, a group of them finally came down. Note that they were lured with corn on a feeding table. Asia,Sinharaja,Sri Lanka,Sri Lanka blue magpie,Urocissa ornata

Appearance

The Sri Lanka blue magpie is about the same size as the European magpie at 42–47 cm. The adults are blue with chestnut head and wings, and a long white-tipped tail. The legs and bill are red. The young bird is a duller version of the adult.
Extreme closeup of a Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, Sinharaja, Sri Lanka Taken as it was on a feeding table. Asia,Sinharaja,Sri Lanka,Sri Lanka blue magpie,Urocissa ornata

Behavior

The Sri Lanka blue magpie has a variety of calls including mimicry, a loud ''chink-chink'' and a rasping ''krak-krak-krak-krak''.
Sri Lanka Blue Magpie One of my 10 most wanted in Sri Lanka - I saw a few at Sinharaja NP Fall,Geotagged,Sinharaja,Sri Lanka,Sri Lanka blue magpie,Urocissa ornata

Reproduction

The cup-shaped stick nest is in a tree or shrub and there are usually 3–5 eggs laid. The eggs are white heavily spotted with brown. Both sexes build the nest and feed the young with only the female incubating them.
Sri Lanka blue magpie, Sinharaja, Sri Lanka An iconic, Sri Lanka-only bird. Found at the end of the path we used in Sinharaja where we were taking shelter from heavy rain. Two groups of birds were having nests there. Just like other magpies, they are easy to lure by sound or objects thrown on the floor, be they food or shiny things. Many more shots of this bird in the next posting. Asia,Sinharaja,Sri Lanka,Sri Lanka blue magpie,Urocissa ornata

Cultural

In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as ''Kehibella '' in Sinhala Language. Blue Magpie appears in a 10c Sri Lankan postal stamp, which was in wide usage in 1980s through 1990s

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Status: Vulnerable
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyCorvidae
GenusUrocissa
SpeciesU. ornata
Photographed in
Sri Lanka