Magpie swooping season is upon us and Logan locals are dodging feathery assaults across the city.
Springwood local Susan Auld was left bloodied and shaken after a magpie “came in for multiple goes” last week.
“Council have put up signs and will be removing the offending bird soon,” Ms Auld said.
“Even the council worker who checked it out got swooped.”
But according to avian and exotics veterinary technician at the University of Queensland’s small animal hospital, Iffy Glendinning, only a small percentage of magpie’s swoop.
“There was a study done in Brisbane a few years ago that showed only 9 per cent of the magpies in Brisbane go through swooping behaviour, and it’s normally just the males that do it,” Ms Glendinning said.
“They swoop because it’s breeding season and they have chicks they want to protect, and at the end of the day, we’re just a big scary predator to them.”
She said August and into spring was “peak breeding season” for Magpies, but the season could extend through to November.
“It depends on the weather, such as how warm it is and the amount of rainfall, which changes the availability of food.
“With warmer weather and a bit of rainfall, there’s more insects around for them to eat,” she said.
Ms Glendinning said magpies were “not fussy” about where they nested – including on the tops of buildings or on powerlines but were more selective about who they attacked.
“It does differ between people walking versus cyclists – magpies hate cyclists a lot more,” she said.
“We assume it has to do with the speed at which a cyclist goes, and maybe that’s a bit more threatening.
“For people walking, magpies will defend their nest within a radius of about 100 meters.
“But for cyclists, it’s a radius of about 150 meters.”
Ms Glendinning said magpies were incredibly intelligent birds that could remember faces, so it would be wise to “get them on your side”.
“Magpies will only swoop if they think you’re a threat, but you can win them over,” she said.
“If a magpie is coming towards you and you turn around to try to scare it, you’re basically telling the magpie that you are definitely a threat so then they’re going to take it up a notch and try even harder to get you away.
“If a magpie is nesting within your workspace, or within your home or your property, you can leave food out for them to make it known that you are not a threat.
“These guys have excellent memories, and next nesting season they will make sure not to swoop you.”
The catch, Ms Glendinning said, is that “we don’t want the birds to become reliant on us for food”.
“It’s a fine line between making sure they don’t see us as a threat versus not turning them into pet,” she said.
She said concerned residents should either take a different route or wear a wide-brimmed hat or a helmet with eyes stuck to the back of it.
“Cyclists can also just get off their bike and walk, for some reason that is perceived as less of a threat,” Ms Glendinning said.
