Magpies are not good birds. They will raid and destroy (read: eat the offspring) the nests of other NATIVE species, and the only reason you are not seeing a **** ton of them right now is they got decimated by West Nile like no other species of bird in America. They are highly, highly intelligent, but they are a non native, destructive species that will push out virtually all other birds in the area. Personally, I'm glad to have not seen many for a couple years. Prior to West Nile the only freaking bird we had here was black and white. It should NOT be protected, damn progressives. I swear some of them seek to destroy the "environment" more than a guy wanting to do a nuke test in the Amazon, except they do it with a chip on their shoulder.
--note : this post is not legal advice ;p
Lets pretend a friend of mine said kill the damn things. Just don't let anyone see you....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie
I've seen them chowing down on a hummingbirds nest before, and a few others. Guess the libs don't care about it as long as they don't have to see a person kill a "poor littl birdy".