The Iberian Magpie is a corvid found on the Iberian Peninsula. Its blue wings and tail and black crown are distinctive.
Adults have a long blue tail and blue wings, a gray-brown back, a softly pinkish underside, a white throat, and a black crown. The sexes do not differ in plumage.
Iberian Magpies breed cooperatively: helpers as well as parents may care for the nestlings. In southwestern Spain, researchers cross-fostered chicks of different ages to compare how long adults cared for them and how often they brought food. The study included 28 experimental nests and 43 control nests in a long-term population.
Parents and helpers cared for younger foster chicks for longer and stopped caring sooner when chicks were older. Feeding visits increased when the nestling period was experimentally shortened and decreased when it was prolonged. These changes were stronger in breeders than in helpers, and the experiment detected no effect on reproductive success.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In a southwestern Spanish population, Iberian Magpie parents and helpers prolonged care for younger foster chicks and shortened it for older chicks. Changes in feeding visits were stronger in breeders than in helpers.