Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2026 number 2

This publication provides a current assessment of the synurbic population of Magpie in Belarus. The current distribution of Magpie in urban territories is given based on quantitative surveys of this species in 2024-2025, which covered all the most favourable habitats in 19 of the largest cities and 12 smaller cities in various regions of the country. Studies of the habitat preferences and breeding densities of Magpies were conducted in 2015-2025 in the largest synurbic population of this species, which is found in Minsk. As a result, it was established that the current distribution of synurbic populations of Magpie across the territory of the republic is highly uneven. The total estimated synurbiс population of Magpie in Belarus is 6-6.3 thousand breeding pairs. More than 80 % (5-5.4 thousand breeding pairs) of the entire synurbiс population of this species is concentrated in Minsk. In Baranovichi, the city with the second highest number of breeding pairs of Magpie, there are no more than 130 breeding pairs of this species. In the 13 largest cities in Belarus, Magpie nests in single pairs (up to 10 pairs) or is absent. Our results suggest that synurbiс population groups of Magpie in different cities of Belarus formed independently. The current average breeding density of Magpie in Minsk is 27 pairs/km² and the number of this species has increased compared to 2015-2016. The breeding density of Magpie decreases from individual and low-rise residential buildings (0,26±0,26 pairs/ha), as well as small-area tree and shrub plantations (0,36 ± 0,61 pairs/ha), to multi-storey modern residential buildings (0,2 ± 0,12 pairs/ha) and large-area tree and shrub plantations (0,2 ± 0,1 pairs/ha). Although the synurbic population of Magpie in Minsk is generally increasing, there are noticeable fluctuations in numbers from year to year and a constant redistribution of breeding pairs within the city.