Winter’s end spells start of magpie attacks

SYDNEY — As winter draws to a close in Australia, it brings with it the sunny skies and pristine weather conditions that see tourists from around the world flock to the country to take advantage of the shifted seasons in the southern hemisphere.

But, every year at this time is also the season that every Australian walking down treefilled paths dreads — the beginning of the magpie swooping season.

The Australian magpie, a bird native to Australia, is — according to official reports from the Australian government — able to smell fear, and swoop in and attack any animal, including humans, who get too close to their nests during their breeding season which runs from late August to October.

Magpies have large, pointed beaks, and use them to attack unwitting pedestrians, and their animals — with many people already reporting injuries due to the ferocious nature with which these bombarding birds behave.

This has led to Australians devising a number of methods to deal with the aerial onslaughts, from wearing ice cream containers on their heads with drawn-on eyes, to simply waving a stick above their heads to appear larger as they run fearfully from the divebombing birds.

Swooping behavior is a defensive behavior and a warning.

Gisela Kaplan, professor of bird studies at University of New England

In fact, a dedicated twitter feed and website — magpiealert.com — has been established to document all reported attacks, with hundreds of posts daily that are then compiled into a map for those who wish to avoid being hit as they go about their day.

“Magpie swooped a kid on a bike in front of me — riding downhill from the tunnel on Fernleigh track before the water fountain,” user Judy Gray reported on Thursday.

“Magpie swooped and hit me on helmet. This bird generally hangs out near Ahern and Oak street intersection and has injured riders in the past.” another user reported from the state of Queensland.

However, even as media reports across Australia have warned people to be vigilant of the threat of these “dangerous birds,” Professor Gisela Kaplan from the University of New England, a world-renowned expert in their behavior, said on Thursday that the birds are not attacking, but rather, trying to warn people to stay away.

“Swooping behavior is a defensive behavior and a warning. A warning to others to say that you are getting too close to the nest,” Kaplan said.

“If people do nasty things to them — then they do attack.”

Kaplan, who wrote a bestselling book about the Australian magpie, said that magpies were highly intelligent creatures who before nesting undertake a risk-assessment profile of their surroundings, and will note the characteristics of people and their pets, and not swoop them despite them being within their nesting territory.