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This means that the breeding season consistently follows the same pattern each year.
Australia’s Magpie Alert map has already recorded 2,753 swoops and 295 injuries this year. Source: Supplied / Magpie Alert!
The peak of swooping season falls this weekend and stretches into next week. That’s when the maximum number of magpies are nesting, with eggs or chicks to protect, Jones said.
Australia’s Magpie Alert map, where the public reports encounters, has already recorded 2,753 swoops and 295 injuries this year.
A misunderstood neighbour
Moreover, only a minority of these birds attack without provocation. Approximately 100 meters away from their nests, magpies use a unique call to warn people to stay away. If unheeded, they might fly closely overhead. Only when these signals go unnoticed do they resort to swooping.
Magpies might swoop cyclists who get too close to their nests. Source: AAP
“We’ve missed all the earlier cues they’ve been trying to give us,” Jones said. “But we don’t get it. We don’t understand it.”
“Just a small fraction attack indiscriminately, and they’re the ones who draw attention. But they’re seriously stressed,” Jones remarked.
More than a bird
“The idea being that every morning, magpies re-imagine the first dawn from their viewpoint. That’s how strongly they identify with this bird.”
Jones has examined these stories in his role as an ecologist. “There are numerous stories about magpies, yet none are focused on swooping,” he noted. “This is mainly a phenomenon for white people in urban areas.”
A new friend?
“Magpies recognize all individuals within their habitat. They rarely leave their territory unless necessary. It’s possible for them to live for around 20 years,” Jones explains. “If magpies regularly see you and become familiar with you, I think they’d recognize and trust you.”
“There’s a Jekyll and Hyde thing with magpies,” Jones says. “They’re a wonderful bird that everybody seems to appreciate, but they can be terrifying if they’ve attacked you.”
