What is a Magpie Monitor?

Welcome to Magpie Monitors (also known as Bicycle Bird Biologists), an organization dedicated to helping better understand the relationship between Yellow-billed Magpie populations and the West Nile Virus. Many people have expressed an interest and a curiosity about the unique California Central Valley bird because they noticed an apparent recent decline of the Yellow-bills after years of sharing your neighborhoods with them.  Over 200 people have e-mailed our web site with valuable information about magpies they have seen or in many cases not seen.  Partly because of this interest and reporting, the potential threats to Yellow-billed Magpie populations are being taken seriously.

We now have Magpie Monitors throughout the valley from Atascadero and Turlock to Chico and all points in between.  We have Monitors in urban, suburban, and rural areas.  All observations are increasingly important, particularly data collected at regular frequent intervals following our protocols. You can become a valued contributor to building a knowledge base for our very special valley bird.

Click here to learn how you can get started

For those of you who have been counting awhile, keep counting! The most valuable data comes from those who have been counting regularly and for more than one year.

Please know that while we have received and value each report, we can't always reply personally.

Note our new e-mail address: magpie-mail@magpiemonitor.org