White-winged Magpie

The white-winged magpie is an unusual long-tailed corvid patterned mainly in black and white. Unlike other Urocissa magpies, it lacks their familiar blue body plumage, a difference that once led some authors to place it in the separate genus Cissopica. Its dark head and body contrast with extensive white in the wings, most conspicuous when the bird flies. The long graduated tail and robust bill retain the characteristic shape of Asian magpies (Wikipedia, general species account).

Two markedly different subspecies are recognised. The nominate form occurs on Hainan, while Urocissa whiteheadi xanthomelana occupies southern China, northern Vietnam and northern and central Laos. The birds inhabit subtropical forest and remain associated with wooded landscapes rather than open farmland. Taxonomists have noted that the two forms may warrant treatment as separate species, but further study is required. Vietnam's birds therefore belong to the mainland xanthomelana population (Wikipedia, general species account; World Bird Names taxonomic account).