As part of their courtship, the male and female magpie will build an enormous, intricate, mansion-nest that they use year after year, producing a mud-based domed structure of sticks with a side entrance that may be two to four feet in height and have plenty of room for their seven to thirteen eggs produced once a year. They cache food when it’s plentiful and help themselves and the local elk, deer and livestock by picking ticks off their backs. Magpies make quite a sight in the air with their 22 inch length and 24 inch wingspan though they forage for food together on the ground, walking or hopping. Seen only in the Central Valley and coastal ranges of California, their numbers have been drastically cut, often by poisoned bait intended for predators.