Wildlife

A flash of electrifying green darts through the shadows—the Common Green Magpie (Cissa chinensis) is nature’s living jewel. Unlike its black-and-white cousins, this corvid stuns in verdant plumage, its wings and tail tipped with fiery chestnut like embers kissed by flame. A bold black bandit’s mask heightens its mischievous gaze, as if the bird knows secrets the forest keeps hidden.

Found in the dense undergrowth of Southeast Asia’s jungles, it’s a master of deception. Watch it mimic other birds’ calls with uncanny precision, or use its curved beak to flip leaves like a card shark revealing aces. Even in captivity, its hue defies belief—the green fades to teal blue when deprived of wild insects’ carotenoids, proving diet can outshine any artist’s palette.

A reminder that brilliance often lurks where the light barely reaches.