A magpie's defensive behaviour can range from a non-contact swoop with or without beak snapping, through to pecking, dive-bombing and sometimes front-on attacks from the ground. A few attacks are more serious leading to bloodied ears and cheeks or even eye injury.
When magpies swoop, they beat their wings, clack their beaks and occasionally peck or scratch. Accidents can occur because people, particularly children, panic. Remember, magpies are simply trying to protect their territory. Stay calm, protect your face and walk away quickly.
They have excellent recall for faces and very long memories. So, if you've been swooped before, or even if you just look like someone they swooped last year, you're likely to get the same treatment again.
Basic prevention tactics include carrying an open umbrella, or wearing sunglasses and a broad-brimmed hat. It's also safer to travel in groups, as magpies prefer to swoop on lone people. If you can spot where the nest is, be sure to move away from it – but not too quickly.
"If you're getting swooped, the main thing you want to do is try to quickly and calmly move out of their space," Ms Campbell said. "Usually, they only swoop 100 metres around their nest so generally if you move away quickly and calmly, they will stop swooping you.
Magpies swoop in spring
During this time, they will defend their nests and chicks, but also defend their surrounding territory. Male adults are using their body language – beak clapping, whooshing above your head and screeching – to warn you to keep away from their eggs or newly-hatched chicks.
founder Jon Clark also recommends keeping calm in the face of magpie mobbing: “Try and keep eye contact with the birds, that works more often than not—especially if you're walking or running,” he says, “If one swoops and you turn and look at it, keep your eye on it and edge out of its territory.
As mentioned, magpie swooping season occurs during a magpie's mating period, which tends to fall between August and October each year. While it can seem like it drags on forever when you're dreading your commute and trying your best to avoid feathered projectiles, a magpie will usually only swoop for around six weeks.
Myth 2: Magpies target certain colours
None of the research about magpies to date has found that magpies target specific colours, such as orange, yellow or purple. Instead, it is widely believed that they swoop purely to protect their young.
Australian magpies breed from late July to December, which means that swooping season stretches across half the year. But it peaks when magpie chicks hatch in September and early October. “Despite all the hysteria around psycho magpies, it is just the male defending the chicks in the nest …
The most well-known bird for displaying swooping behaviour is the Australian magpie, however other species of native birds have also been known to swoop including the masked lapwing (plover), butcherbird, magpie-lark (pee-wee), little friarbird, torresian crow and noisy miner.
If a magpie has ever swooped on you, you might find this next part hard to believe. It turns out magpies can and do, form friendships with humans – and not just when they want food.
“Only 10 per cent of the male magpies actually swoop people and the research suggests it is actually a learned behaviour,” Dooley says. “These birds might have had a bad experience with humans in the past, and they remember that and swoop when humans come near their nest.”
Statistics compiled by the community website Magpie Alert suggest that most swooping takes place between August and October. "When the fledglings are out of the nest, the nest defence activity decreases," Ratnayake says.
Walk with a stick above your head – but don't wave it. Wear a hat and sunglasses to protect your head and eyes. Walk quickly, but don't run or stop.
Butcherbirds are known to swoop during the annual spring breeding season (from September to November). Swooping stops once the young have left the nest, so it's only a problem for a few weeks.
A key reason why friendships with magpies are possible is that we now know that magpies are able to recognise and remember individual human faces for many years.
Like dogs, magpies seem to sense fear and will capitalise on it by pressing an attack. In a strike attack, a magpie swoops, hovers momentarily and then strikes. The fluttering of wings as the bird hovers is usually sufficient warning for adults and older children to duck their heads and avoid the attack.
Mr Dooley says the one “foolproof” way to make sure you're not swooped is by feeding magpies. “That's the way to a magpie's heart,” he said. “You don't want to give them junk food … fresh meat is the best or even dog biscuits, especially if they're soaked in a bit of water.”
Overview. Magpies can swoop from July through to December (usually for about 8 weeks) during the spring while they build nests, lay and protect eggs and raise nestling and fledgling birds. Not all magpies will swoop but some will as a natural instinct to protect their territory (area around their nest) and their young.
Most Magpies don't swoop people. 90% of male magpies won't swoop and females don't swoop at all. But for just six weeks from August to September some males may swoop and become aggressive. They are just defending their nest and protecting their babies.