The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures,[1][2] and is one of the few nonmammalian species able to recognize itself in a mirror test.

[3] Magpies have shown the ability to make and use tools, imitate human speech, grieve, play games, and work in teams.

Magpies of the genus Pica are generally found in temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and western North America, with populations also present in Tibet and high-elevation areas of Kashmir.

[8] According to some studies, magpies do not form the monophyletic group they are traditionally believed to be; tails have elongated (or shortened) independently in multiple lineages of corvid birds.

One consists of Holarctic species with black and white colouration, and is probably closely related to crows and Eurasian jays.

In addition, in Chinese folklore, all the magpies of the Qixi Festival every year will fly to the Milky Way and form a bridge, where the separated Cowherd and Weaver Girl will meet.

Magpies have an important place in the birth myth of Ai Xinjue Luo Bukuri Yushun, the ancestor of the Qing dynasty.

In that year, the rhyme was added to Proverbs and Popular Sayings of the Seasons, by Michael Aislabie Denham, an English merchant and collector of folklore.