We’re in the thick of swooping season – here’s how busting magpie myths can help you avoid the suburban stealth bombers.
With a seemingly unpredictable striking style and a burst of staccato beak snaps, a swooping magpie can send unsuspecting suburban strollers sprinting for cover.A swooping magpie in Wentworth Park.The brood defenders have been spotted from Coogee to Leura, according to swoop reporting siteGriffith University Emeritus Professor Darryl Jones said enough is known about their biology, behaviour and evolution to help avoid, and empathise with, the attacking magpies.
“At the beginning of the season, a magpie gives a really specific call that says, ‘Hey, I can see you coming towards my nest, keep away’. That’s a call that we don’t recognise because we’re not magpies.” Later in the season, there’s also less time to have a second brood if the first doesn’t survive, so magpies go to greater ends to defend their chicks as the end of spring approaches.Jones said magpies are stealth bombers and less likely to attack from the front.
Magpies can memorise about 20 faces, so if you live near a swooping magpie, there’s a chance you can negotiate a truce.
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