A member of the crow family with a black-and-white body and a long tail. In Britain, its dark feathers show blue or green gloss at close range.
In British birds, the dark wing feathers have a purplish-blue sheen and the tail has a green gloss.
Pica pica builds nests using twigs, with clay in the nest cup and sometimes a roof-like dome above it. Urban birds also incorporate manufactured materials.
In July 2021, a nest containing anti-bird spikes was found in a hospital courtyard in Antwerp, Belgium. These strips of sharp pins are intended to discourage birds from perching on buildings. When the nest was collected after the breeding season in October, its roof alone contained 61 strips bearing 604 metal pins.
Adhesive traces and missing spikes on the nearby roof suggested a possible source. The authors infer that the birds may have removed the material themselves. Its placement in the dome also prompted the hypothesis that it could deter other birds approaching the nest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
RSPB lists this species as Green in the UK conservation classification. Urban nest materials also offer a way to study interactions between birds and human environments. The 2023 paper recommends comparing fledging success in nests with and without sharp materials and testing preferences for natural thorny branches versus manufactured spikes.