I've been hiking the Dakota Ridge trail here in Boulder almost every day for years now... and towards the bottom of the trail, there are always magpies. There were also tons of magpies in our yard growing up in Tahoe. My whole life it seems I've been surrounded by them. I've always thought they were amazing visually with their super long tail feathers and iridescent blue hues. I think their calls are pretty crazy. Sometimes they sound more like some freaky alien creature than a bird.... bizarre and beautiful.