Magpies are a protected species, and it's against the law to kill them, relocate them, destroy their nests, or collect their eggs. They usually mate for life, and moving them can disrupt their family life. In any case, after they've been removed and released elsewhere, they usually return within a few days or weeks.
Magpies are a protected native species and it is illegal to kill them or harm them. The swooping is only in nesting season and they are trying to drive people away from their nests and eggs. You can't stop them swooping, you just have to protect yourself. I've been swooped once, when I was a teenager, a long time ago.
Remember, magpies are simply trying to protect their territory. Stay calm, protect your face and walk away quickly. A magpie may become aggressive towards people because it has been harassed in the past.
Interesting fact: It's true, magpies remember your face. 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.
Unfortunately, another expert noted that this can backfire, given that if you mess up and do “something as minor as looking in the direction of the nest” the magpie will also remember that and pursue you with a vengeance due to their “low tolerance threshold”.
“It's the birds responding to things they perceive as threats. That includes humans, dogs, cats, snakes and anything else the magpie decides is a threat to its chicks.” That might also include other magpies.
Deterrents for magpies
Half-full plastic bottles or CDs hung up in trees to scare the predators away. Magpies don't like the way light reflects from the surface.
If a magpie tries to swoop you, bend your elbow and bring your forearm close to your head to protect your face. Once your eyes are covered, look down and walk away calmly. Cyclists should also dismount their bikes and proceed on foot through a magpie's attack zone.
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.
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.
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.
The EPA and the NSW branch of the RSPCA will continue to keep their collective eyes peeled for the perpetrator, promising jail time. The maximum penalty for deliberately killing a magpie is two years behind bars.
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.
Magpies swoop to protect their territory when they feel their nests are threatened during nesting season, but this action can result in skin and eye injuries. Though it is rare for a magpie to actually make contact, a swooping magpie can cause bicycles accidents, resulting in injury to yourself or others.
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.
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. They can learn which nearby humans do not constitute a risk. They will remember someone who was good to them; equally, they remember negative encounters.
"It's their challenging, almost arrogant attitude, that has won them few friends," says a spokeswoman. "But magpies are beautiful striking birds." They are scavengers and collect objects, with a weakness for shiny things. They are also seen as predators, eating other birds' eggs and their young, as well as plants.
Meet the Magpie Menace
Tourists visiting Australia often arrive terrified of the country's deadly wildlife, from snakes to saltwater crocs to the mythical, man-eating drop bears. Meanwhile, Australians are more afraid of the magpies.
According to another a study published in the journal Animal Behaviour, ravens which include crows, jays and magpies, have the ability to 'hold grudges' for up to two years.
Magpies are very switched on. They are protective of their nests and swoop interlopers during breeding season. Do not retaliate. Magpies recognise faces and if they conclude you are not a threat they will leave you alone.
Natural predators of magpies include various species of monitor lizard and the barking owl. Birds are often killed on roads or electrocuted by powerlines, or poisoned after killing and eating house sparrows or mice, rats or rabbits targeted with baiting.
Magpies feel grief and even hold funeral-type gatherings for their fallen friends and lay grass “wreaths” beside their bodies, an animal behaviour expert has claimed. Dr Bekoff, of the University of Colorado, said these rituals prove that magpies, usually seen as an aggressive predator, also have a compassionate side.
Magpies are one of Australia's most distinctive birds, gracing us for most of the year with their beautiful songs. However, during mating season, a small percentage (less than 10%) become highly aggressive, swooping and attacking passersby in their territory.