colours of magpies

[blue-meanie]

about half an hour ago i saw a bird that looked like a magpie. but its colouring seemed wrong. the tail feathers and wing tips were black and white like normal but the main colouring of the bird was like a pinky colour. i'm sure it was a magpie as it hopped like a magpie does. my question is does anyone know if magpies are just black and white or do they come in different colours? if they are only b&w what bird did i see?

[clair3934]

It sounds like you may have seen a Jay from the same family so they look very simalar but jays are a grey/brown colour with blue on the sides of there heads

[blue-meanie]

thanx for your answer clair3934,

but it definitely wasn't grey / brown: possible it was pinky-brown but it definitely didn't have any blue on its head.

any other ideas?

[ruthann58]

there are 2 types of jay i think you probably saw the one without the blue

[spudqueen]

Sounds like a jay to me, check it out on the A-Z list of birds on the RSPB website.

[Cetti]

Yes, I'll say almost definitely your bird is a Jay, blue-meanie.

There is only one kind of Jay in the UK , no blue on head, tail and wing tips black, exactly as you described, and has a curious hopping gate like it's Magpie relative. This is the best picture I could find. A juvenile Jay has a more sombre colouration, another possibility.

[nickmo]

http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/gallery/TaylorD/Jay20040210b.htm pic of British Jay is a bit more clear.

[blue-meanie]

thanx very much to one and all for your answers esp' to cetti & nickmo for the picture links.

[heathfield]

I'm just wondering if it could have been a 'rosy starling'? See http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/rose-coloured-starling:sturnus-roseus-photo-189.html

[blue-meanie]

had a quick look at the picture heathfield but the colour of the head was wrong. it looks more like the pictures that cetti & nickmo sent but thanx anyway.

[Cetti]

Just found this superb picture of a Jay - thanks to Spikey88's website suggestion.