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The UK Bird Atlas

Magpie (Pica pica)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks October to April · Crows, Jays, and Magpies · BOU category AF

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Magpie (Pica pica)
Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Magpie: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Magpie has been recorded in 2,431 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (82%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in October to April.

Conservation status: Not Evaluated (IUCN Red List, NE)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
68% or more of visits
High
50% to 68%
Moderate
30% to 50%
Low
under 30%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 93%56%Very high
February 94%57%Very high
March 95%57%Very high
April 88%53%Low
May 79%48%Low
June 77%46%Low
July 76%46%Low
August 77%47%Low
September 83%50%Very high
October 89%54%Very high
November 99%60%Very high
December 100%60%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in January

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C62Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C90Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C92Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D00Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D01Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D13Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H14Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H15Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H34Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H76Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.