Magpie Attacks

As I have mentioned in other postings, both Mark and I have started cycling quite a bit since moving to Australia. The winters have been especially enjoyable as the weather is usually mild and dry. Unfortunately as spring approaches (that is September spring here in the Southern Hemisphere), cycling become less pleasant. This is not due directly to the change in the weather but to the change in behavior of a certain bird, the Australian Magpie.

When we first arrived in Brisbane and witnessed an attack upon a passing cyclist, we were astonished. Here was this bird, smaller than a crow, swooping down and pecking at a moving cyclist, and persisting in the attack even after the cyclist began swinging his pump around. It was amazing, and at the time seemed even comical. Little did we know that within a few years time, our entire family would fall victim to this brute of a bird! So far only one has drawn blood. Poor Mark had his ear and helmet pecked.

It's only the beginning of the Magpie season, and I've already been "swooped" 5 times. I can't say I really look forward to my bike rides nowdays. It's a most unnerving experience, especially if there is much traffic. However, as not all birds are the same, not all attacks are the same. Both Mark and I have experienced a variety of swooping styles. First, there is the "stalker", who hovers above with a ominous whoosh of wings, but no strike. These are a bit eerie but not as bad as the "hit and run" in which there is a sudden sickening clatter of claws colliding against the plastic shell of the helmet. Generally such attacks involve a considerable amount of force, which must startle the bird as well as the cyclist, since after the initial strike the bird usually flies off. The "snappers" are somewhat similar in that they often only make one pass, but tend to snap their beaks quite near the victim's ears before fleeing to a high branch. Other times one is not so lucky, as in the case of the "psychos" who hover, swoop and strike pecking or clawing repeatedly sometimes for up to 100 meters or so, and only fly off after the cyclist takes some sort of defensive measure (waving a water bottle or bike pump, stopping and staring at them sometimes helps). The best is to try to avoid known danger areas until the 2 month nesting period is over.

Annoying as it is, apparently all this aggressive behavior is in the name of good parenting as magpies only attack when they feel their young are threatened. All the same, they do really seem to have it out for cyclists.

If this is all a bit hard to believe, read about Birds Behaving Badly, Magpie Attacks, Cycling Advice or check out the video of magpie attacks in New Zealand. The helmet cam captures it all!