why is it called a magpie?

Answer 1

Probably an Aboriginal word.
No!

A contraction of margarel and pie. (french)

Look it up in a dictionary.

Answer 2

remember the nursery rhyme 4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie well the original birds used were magpies.it was a tradition in southern england in the early 1800s that the gentry sat down to these magnificent pies so huge and full of magpie meat , potatoes and vegtables.thus mag was refering to magnificent and the pie was the contents wrapped in pastry.yummy.

Answer 3

The prefix "mag-" is short for "Margaret." Known for its noisy chattering, the European Magpie may have acquired its name as an allusion to nagging. It could have also been named after "Maggot" because it stole eggs and nestlings from other birds. "Pie" is the original name of the bird, from the Latin pica

Answer 4

I agree with the 'Mag' part (Kirsty d, answer above)
Pie is a prefix meaning black and white, as in piebald
also as in 'pied wagtail'

Answer 5

Mag is the bird and Pie is because it's black and white.