A SWOOPING magpie can send unsuspecting strollers sprinting for cover and cyclists veering wildly off into the bushes, so why do magpies swoop and what can we do about it?

When magpie chicks are in their nest, the male’s job is to keep them safe by keeping what they think might be predators or threats away from their chicks.

Griffith University Emeritus Professor Darryl Jones holds a master’s degree in wildlife management and a PhD in behavioural ecology and authored Magpie Alert, a book about the Australian Magpie and spoke to Reverend Bill Crews on 4BC. 

“The bloke’s job is to just keep what he thinks is a risk, away from the chicks, and so for whatever reason in their own mind, they decided that some people or cyclists are one of those risks and that’s why they’re swooping and trying to keep us away.”

During his research, Dr Jones found that 90 per cent of magpies never swoop anybody and it’s only about 10 per cent of magpies that do actually swoop. 

“If every magpie in Australia swooped somebody during the season, we’d have to leave the country altogether, it wouldn’t be an inhabitable place,” said Dr Jones.

However, these 10 per cent can be a menace, causing moderate to severe injuries, with cyclists bearing the brunt of about 70 per cent of the attacks and walkers about 20 per cent. 

Last season a total of 3108 magpie attacks were reported and 409 of those resulted in injuries. 

In some cases, there have also been fatalities reported. 

“In the last couple of years there’s been a couple of fatalities, really terrible things, an older gentleman fell off his bike and hit his head on the road, and a baby was lost from its mother’s arms when she panicked and was trying to get the magpie away. It can be pretty tragic.”

Of the 10 per cent of the magpies that swoop, Dr Jones found that half of those only target pedestrians, and of those, almost all of them attack only a single person. 

This person is someone who they are familiar with, as magpies live in a permanent territory and can recognise people that live in the area, able to memorise up to 30 different faces. 

Yet the other half of swooping magpies will attack every pedestrian, postie and cyclist that enters their territory and the aggression from swooping magpies can intensify over the season, especially if people react aggressively towards the magpie. 

“It’s a really bad idea to retaliate as it will only make it worse,” said Dr Jones.

Dr Jones advises that the only real way to avoid a swooping magpie is to avoid its territory while there are chicks inhabiting the nest.

“The simplest thing to do is avoid that area. It’s not a huge area. It would only be about a hundred metres across and it surrounds the tree with a nest in it.”

If it’s difficult to avoid swooping areas, these are the measures that Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action suggest taking. 

• Know your local swooping hotspots and avoid the area, there is an app called Magpie Alert that maps where swooping magpies are located.

• Move quickly but do not run if you find yourself close to a swooping bird.

• Wear protective head and eye coverings.

• Don’t harass birds, this can make swooping worse.

• Don’t feed the birds and do not destroy their nests.

• Avoid known swooping hotspots by planning your route. 

• Report a swooping incident on Victoria’s interactive swooping bird map by visiting: wildlife.vic.gov.au/managing-wildlife/swooping-birds and Magpie Alert

All native wildlife is protected by law. Harassing, harming or disturbing native birds and other wildlife is illegal in Victoria and penalties apply.

You can report wildlife crime such as harassing, harming or disturbing wildlife to Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000.