1 September 2011

With spring comes magpies. Break out the cable ties.

| johnboy
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magpie protection

Territory And Municipal Services are warning that it’s magpie time again:

With the warmer weather just around the corner Canberrans are urged to be aware that the magpie swooping season has begun.

“Magpies are an important part of the Canberra environment and for most of the year they are good neighbours. During the six week breeding season, however, they become territorial and may swoop people and other animals in the area of their nest to protect their young,” said Nadia Kuzmanoski, Ranger, Parks and Reserves.

“Not all magpies are threatened by people, only some will swoop. It is important not to aggravate magpies or retaliate as they can become more aggressive if irritated.

People can follow simple precautions can help avoid being swooped by a magpie:

— walk through the magpie’s territory quickly, but don’t run;
— take a different route next time;
— protect your head with an umbrella, hat or helmet and your eyes with glasses;
— attach a flag or streamers on a stick to your backpack or bike; and
— avoid throw things at magpies.

And let’s not forget the CSIRO’s groundbreaking work in this area:

[Photo by Owen from last year]

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TheDancingDjinn11:30 pm 19 Oct 12

I absolutely love this thread. Thank you all for your wonderful stories, i have not laughed like this in some time.

We walk/run our woofer around the Inner North once or maybe twice a day and have not been swooped for years. The maggies, crows and minahs swoop the hound, however. He’s a well-mannered, not-too-bright dog so accepts it with good grace.

Watson said :

Magpies only swoop when they have hatchlings in the nest

The magpies near my house swoop my chickens all year round.

Glen Takkenberg
Pirate Party ACT for Ginninderra

Eppo said :

I really don’t understand the cable tie thing, maybe someone can explain…

Magpies can’t break through helmets. I’ve never had a problem forgoing the ridiculous porcupine hat.

I’ve had one draw blood from my ear before while on a push bike, never resorted to using cable ties though.

Glen Takkenberg
Pirate Party ACT for Ginninderra

Thanks all, I braved it yesterday and other than some slightly higher blood pressure from expecting to be swooped – it was all clear.

And then came home to a dead pee wee in the backyard – wonder what that means??

Magpies only swoop when they have hatchlings in the nest and get more passionate about defending their territory as their offspring grows. If it’s a good season, they can have 2 broods, which is why they sometimes are seen swooping late in the season. They can also be very particular about who/what/when they swoop. We had one at our local shops one spring that would only swoop kids riding bikes. Posties are also often a very popular target. Getting off your bike often works. But then again, they might just not like the colour of your jumper.

Magpie alert is an interesting book based on research on this kind of stuff. http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Magpie_Alert.html?id=OzgLUUrAnk0C&redir_esc=y

In our neighbourhood magpies only seem to swoop dogs. I laugh so much when I walk my dog! She thinks it’s a game, so she chases the magpies and they chase her back. Endless fun!

We did have a magpie removed from near the preschool and primary school 2 years ago. My then 5yo thought it was funny to get swooped and laughed at the kids who fell to the ground in hysterics. Until he made her ear bleed and then it wasn’t quite as funny. A few days later there was a ranger at the oval to catch the aggressive bird who apparently had injured scores of little kids. I believe he said they would relocate him to somewhere away from people. And that another male would move in immediately and help raise the chicks. Since then we’ve had no people swoopers…

I must have the luckiest bike commute possible. This is my first spring riding to work, and I was sure I’d run across at least one angry maggie – but in 14.5km from Belco to the City, along Southern Cross / Belco Way / Barry Drive, I haven’t been swooped once – not even a half-arsed attempt.

My bike, and my gear, is basically black and white too – so I must look like as huge, unknown magpie invading their territory. Guess I’m just lucky enough to ride past plenty of laid back maggies!

carnardly said :

Another one down near the underpass at Athlon Drive and Tuggeranong Parkway nearish to the storm water drain.

He was having a good go at one of the TaMS mower operators yesterday arvo. Cranky little bastard was doing some kamaze sh!t from the street lights.

PrinceOfAles8:43 pm 16 Oct 12

PrinceOfAles said :

77Eliza said :

Have they mostly finished now?? I retire to the bus in swooping season, but would love to get back on my bike in from Watson- has anyone seen any along the bike path there lately? I did see one on Northbourne almost attached to a postie’s helmet yesterday, but I’m hoping that they’re mostly finished for the year??

Am I safe to get back on my bike??

(noting that I was swooper in the first week of December last year jogging around the lake near duntroon – but it was a half arsed attempt).

I`ll let you know in a few hours. I rode from Watson down to Civic, around the lake and back home again yesterday and didn`t come across any hostile birdies. I`m about to do the exact same thing in about 10 minutes so I`ll let you know.

I would say you`re safe. Just went for a ride and hardly saw any magpies let alone get swooped by one.

Madam Cholet8:08 pm 16 Oct 12

I’m not sure if they are done yet….we have two maggies in our tree in the front yard and I could have sworn that they only just got it on the other day. There was a third one hanging around for a while and they would chase it away. I haven’t seen any pairs with young hanging out at all. it seems to have been a very quiet season altogether. I wonder why?

Theres a swooper half way up the Mt Ainslie lookout road, and on half way along Liversidge drive at ANU. I remember seeing some kind of magpie map once upon a time. I wonder if anyone else has a link?

PrinceOfAles4:45 pm 16 Oct 12

77Eliza said :

Have they mostly finished now?? I retire to the bus in swooping season, but would love to get back on my bike in from Watson- has anyone seen any along the bike path there lately? I did see one on Northbourne almost attached to a postie’s helmet yesterday, but I’m hoping that they’re mostly finished for the year??

Am I safe to get back on my bike??

(noting that I was swooper in the first week of December last year jogging around the lake near duntroon – but it was a half arsed attempt).

I`ll let you know in a few hours. I rode from Watson down to Civic, around the lake and back home again yesterday and didn`t come across any hostile birdies. I`m about to do the exact same thing in about 10 minutes so I`ll let you know.

Have they mostly finished now?? I retire to the bus in swooping season, but would love to get back on my bike in from Watson- has anyone seen any along the bike path there lately? I did see one on Northbourne almost attached to a postie’s helmet yesterday, but I’m hoping that they’re mostly finished for the year??

Am I safe to get back on my bike??

(noting that I was swooper in the first week of December last year jogging around the lake near duntroon – but it was a half arsed attempt).

Tuggeranong pool one is a goer too. There is one diagonally opposite the wanniassa shops along the path between the red rooster roundabout and sulwood drive. he doesn’t get you on the downhill when you’re in and out of his zone within 20 seconds, but when you’re creeping up the hill, he goes and goes and goes. Another one down near the underpass at Athlon Drive and Tuggeranong Parkway nearish to the storm water drain.

MrMagoo said :

Yesterday I was surprisingly ‘bombed’ at te Florey Shops, coming off Ratcliffe, down the parth behind the bakery. Unfortunately Maggies are my littl phobia. In saying that I walked back the same way with the kids after school and not such much as flutter of angry feathers.

+1. Have lived very close to the shops for the last 5 years and have never copped it until Monday.That bird is laser-guided..

Cable ties, no, because I want them to attack my helmet.
Look or don’t look, I suspect it depends on the magpie. I don’t look.
Looking forward to the singing swooper of the Parkway tunnels near Glenoch. So cute!
What isn’t is the cyclist who goes through there carrying a huge stick.

thy_dungeonman said :

Is that one still swooping? I had pretty hard time riding past him last spring, he would pretty much stay on my helmet, hitting it constantly, but he hasn’t made an appearance this season yet. I guess I’ll know when he does but lets hope he’s a bachelor now.

Haven’t seen him yet, but the season is still very young.

I’m sure I saw the maggie that lives behind the Tuggeranong Pool, near the skateboard park, doing push-ups this morning.

I’d like to see the footage from the bloke with the backward ‘firing’ camcorders. I ride from Lyneham into Civic via the storm drain bike path and haven’t been swooped yet. Probably too many cyclists for the magpies to be bothered.

thy_dungeonman5:51 pm 01 Sep 11

Snarky said :

carnardly said :

Hindmarsh and Melrose? he’s a good one!!!

🙂

Yeah, he set new standards in bird badness, that one. Saw him take a dozen swoops on one poor bloke riding down from Launceston along the on-road cyclepath to Woden. Hit his helmet a couple of times.

Going the other way up Hindmarsh to Weston Creek of an afternoon during the height of the season that bird would swoop me (although never getting closer than a metre or two) pretty much all the way to the crest of the rise just past Launceston and halfway to the Parkway overpass.

Got to say though I don’t wish him harm – his little magpie ‘nads are swollen to something like 200x their normal size, so he’s extremely sore, hyped and in a foul (fowl?) mood. Can’t really blame him for that – I’d be friggin’ cranky too!

Is that one still swooping? I had pretty hard time riding past him last spring, he would pretty much stay on my helmet, hitting it constantly, but he hasn’t made an appearance this season yet. I guess I’ll know when he does but lets hope he’s a bachelor now.

alaninoz said :

niftydog said :

I maintain the best way to deter them is to simply keep your eyes on them. I didn’t get swooped at all last year, despite getting plenty of attention.

While watching where you are going at the same time?

Yes, actually. Pretty amazing, huh? 😉

Why do they go for the head? Why do they go for pedestrians, cyclists and posties but not cars (
even slow moving ones) ?

Cats, Dogs? Are cows and sheep immune from attack?

If one built a contraption where one “cycles” upside down would they go for the soles of your feet?

I ride a mountain bike and am a slower rider. One beautiful sunny summer day I set out from Tuggeranong about four years ago riding into Civic along the highway that was quieter back then. Upon reaching Hume a magpie the size of an eagle started swooping and whacking me on the side of the head attempting to reach my eyes. I learned my lesson never to ride near traffic again. I put my arm up to ward off the blows to no avail. My sunglasses were hit, the helmet already had pieces taken out of it and the maggie decided to chase me up to the Hume set of traffic lights until I walked the bike. Up pulled a couple of harley davidsons or is it davisons? In shock (at that stage had only ridden a bike for a short period), I left my mountain bike locked around a tree and without asking permission jumped on the back of a motorbike upset explaining the situation.

I asked if they could drop me back to my suburb and I’d leave out a case of beer.

They never returned after it was discovered (I was honest) that suntan oil from my legs was left on the new Harley’s leather seat.

niftydog said :

I maintain the best way to deter them is to simply keep your eyes on them. I didn’t get swooped at all last year, despite getting plenty of attention.

While watching where you are going at the same time?

Captain RAAF said :

Tennis racquet will see them off for good!

Magpies are also protected, so if you get killing or injuring one, be prepared to suffer the consequences.

I dont have an issue taking someone to task also, if I see them trying to injure or kill one.

smiling politely3:12 pm 01 Sep 11

Snarky said :

carnardly said :

Hindmarsh and Melrose? he’s a good one!!!

Yeah, he set new standards in bird badness, that one. Saw him take a dozen swoops on one poor bloke riding down from Launceston along the on-road cyclepath to Woden. Hit his helmet a couple of times. …

Interestingly though he appears to respect a good hat – walked across that intersection several times during the last season and he never once went for me, though I’d see other pedestrians and cyclists get harangued. So, ladies and gentlemen, get yourself a respectable bit of headwear and a particularly angry bird may well leave you alone…

Magpies are the main reason I first joined a bike club. Brilliant time of year to get out and ride Cotter to Uriarra but solo cyclists beware – some of the maggies do not f**king give up!!

Bonzo said :

@Eppo, the cable ties stop psycho-magpies pecking through the gaps in a helmet or going for the ears. Most magpies just do a couple of dive bombs – nothing to worry about. Occasionally, you’ll get one that is nuts, and that’s where the extra protection is required.

I got swooped a lot last year, and got to learn the personalities of “my” magpies pretty well: from the regular inoffensive dive-bomber, to the one that only ever swooped in the afternoon, to the total whacko that would go for helmet gaps every time for 5 or 6 bombs.

It’s a long six weeks…

Said it before and I’ll say it again – I have been swooped on Christmas Eve.

Time for them to re-cycle my favourite Magnet Mart ad, it was actually funny. The Magnet Mart guy sends minion across the paddock to spy on the opposition (which looks a LOT like Bunnings). It’s a dangerous mission, there’s magpies, so he gives the minion a gum-tree stick, which he’s to keep up. Then a fast-motion Benny-Hill-esque sequence with the minion being attacked by the magpie. I loved that ad.

I will never understand the cable ties either – not much of a deterrent to a psycho-maggie. Even more moderate birds can scare the stuffing out of you with or without.

I maintain the best way to deter them is to simply keep your eyes on them. I didn’t get swooped at all last year, despite getting plenty of attention.

Bosworth said :

I’d rather take my chances with the magpies and practice some sprint training than look like a goob.

I’d rather not be swooped too closely. I honestly couldn’t give a sh1t what I look like. Seems to me to be a pretty shallow reason for anything – probably very popular with teenagers though.

Yesterday I was surprisingly ‘bombed’ at te Florey Shops, coming off Ratcliffe, down the parth behind the bakery. Unfortunately Maggies are my littl phobia. In saying that I walked back the same way with the kids after school and not such much as flutter of angry feathers.

carnardly said :

Hindmarsh and Melrose? he’s a good one!!!

🙂

Yeah, he set new standards in bird badness, that one. Saw him take a dozen swoops on one poor bloke riding down from Launceston along the on-road cyclepath to Woden. Hit his helmet a couple of times.

Going the other way up Hindmarsh to Weston Creek of an afternoon during the height of the season that bird would swoop me (although never getting closer than a metre or two) pretty much all the way to the crest of the rise just past Launceston and halfway to the Parkway overpass.

Got to say though I don’t wish him harm – his little magpie ‘nads are swollen to something like 200x their normal size, so he’s extremely sore, hyped and in a foul (fowl?) mood. Can’t really blame him for that – I’d be friggin’ cranky too!

I don’t know how I managed to survive childhood riding my bike everywhere and not having these cable ties to protect me from murderous magpies.

Hindmarsh and Melrose? he’s a good one!!! 🙂

Captain RAAF1:42 pm 01 Sep 11

Tennis racquet will see them off for good!

Bosworth said :

I’d rather take my chances with the magpies and practice some sprint training than look like a goob.

(and carnardly too, who said exactly the same thing letter-for-letter at #1)

… because it’s all about How We Look, and that’s so important on a bicycle.

Myself, I’ve found that a small windsock on a pole on the bike is the best maggie-repellent around. In 5 years of using one they’ve never come close, not even last year’s psycho bird on Hindmarsh near Woden.

I’d rather take my chances with the magpies and practice some sprint training than look like a goob.

Holden Caulfield12:31 pm 01 Sep 11

lolz at the YouTube clip.

I’ve been bombed successfully and they have drawn blood off me in the past. I’d like to think i can control my bike sufficiently well and will raise one arm to wave it above my head if i have to. I still prefer not to use cable ties.

Eppo – if you porcupine your helmet, birds have more difficulty making contact with your head, that’s all.

@Eppo, the cable ties stop psycho-magpies pecking through the gaps in a helmet or going for the ears. Most magpies just do a couple of dive bombs – nothing to worry about. Occasionally, you’ll get one that is nuts, and that’s where the extra protection is required.

I got swooped a lot last year, and got to learn the personalities of “my” magpies pretty well: from the regular inoffensive dive-bomber, to the one that only ever swooped in the afternoon, to the total whacko that would go for helmet gaps every time for 5 or 6 bombs.

It’s a long six weeks…

Magpies have been known to latch on to clothing and helmets to peck into the victim’s eyes or ears.

Eppo said :

I really don’t understand the cable tie thing, maybe someone can explain…

Magpies can’t break through helmets. I’ve never had a problem forgoing the ridiculous porcupine hat.

They can’t break through the helmet, but they can whack into it (which can be quite distracting if you’re not expecting it!). Cable ties are supposed to keep the bird from making contact with the helmet.

most helmets, as pictured, are mostly air vents.

I really don’t understand the cable tie thing, maybe someone can explain…

Magpies can’t break through helmets. I’ve never had a problem forgoing the ridiculous porcupine hat.

no thanks. I’d rather take my chances with the magpies and practice some sprint training than look like a goob.

One or two cable ties should be sufficient – i just cack myself at the porcupine heads though.

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