Hostilities have broken out up and down the east coast of Australia. The enemy strikes from above, and always attacks from behind. Casualties have been reported and the dive bombings that began with the onset of spring have become more frequent. Zoologists have been called in to devise some means of defence but they have also suffered from the swift and silent enemy.



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Yes, from September to November each year in eastern Australia it is magpie madness time and few people, even children, are safe. During nesting, you barely see the black-and-white flash as the magpie turns into a flying missile, swooping down on unsuspecting humans and delivering painful and often dangerous pecks.

A Brisbane newspaper once reported that at one school a fierce magpie had cut the faces of more than a hundred children. Throngs of screaming parents at the school gate were trying to get their terrified children to run quickly across the open spaces to the main building, where a doctor was waiting to provide first aid.

Nick Cilento is familiar with the Brisbane situation and has often been victimised by magpies himself. He decided to investigate their attacks for his honours thesis at Griffith University and spent six months before, during and after an entire magpie breeding season observing their attacks on other humans. He also assisted a team undertaking a survey about magpie attacks that involved 5,000 respondents – the results showed that 96% of men and 75% of women had been victims at some time in their lives.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Boys – the usual chuckers of rocks and sticks – in particular becoming prime targets, along with bicycle riders, joggers and posties.’ Photograph: Alamy

Walking adults were rarely attacked but children were, with boys – the usual chuckers of rocks and sticks – in particular becoming prime targets, along with bicycle riders, joggers and posties. Some birds seemed to pick their victims with great care; a woman pushing a pram could be attacked even while the magpie ignored boys pelting it with sticks. But Cilento discovered that only about one in 20 mating pairs of birds attacked humans and, of these, only a small number were fiercely aggressive, as if something they had experienced “had turned them into madmen”.

He then set out to draw a magpie’s attention to himself by riding his pushbike through the territory. The attacking bird was typically a male bird, which usually glides silently down from an elevated position so as to approach the intruder from the rear. Sometimes the attack consists of a single swoop, but Cilento was once hit a dozen times on his helmet by the same bird as he pedalled through its territory.

It looks good to the females when they chase this big predator away Nick Cilento

Magpie attacks are always directed at the head. Their weapons of choice are a closed beak or open claws, or they bite and leave two fine cuts where the skin has been pinched and sliced. They also dive bomb, the bird flying fast and using its full body weight to buffet the back of the intruder’s neck or head. This sort of attack can stun and may cause serious bruising.

The magpies’ behaviour follows predictable patterns and individual birds respond to humans according to their own past experience and learning. They are obviously capable of recognising and attacking particular people, which adds credence to the belief in their cognitive abilities. Unfortunately, aggressive magpies represent a serious human–wildlife conflict that is not easily reconciled: “Males get a good response attacking people. They generally don’t hurt themselves and it looks good to the females when they chase this big predator away.”

In the thesis Cilento wrote on his research, he says: “Females seem to understand that humans are a threat only when their fledglings are spending a lot of time on the ground and are vulnerable, which is when the female may become aggressive.”

Also, Cilento says the lack of any references to magpie attacks on humans in Aboriginal mythology suggests the problem is now linked to large numbers of people living in close proximity to each other – and to the magpies. The attacks appear to be simply a response to repetitive stimuli: someone may be bombed on a particular footpath and ignored if they are off it, even if they move closer to the nest.

Worse still, some birds cannot be persuaded to change their ways: one man told Cilento he had been attacked as a boy and the same bird was still dive bombing him 25 years later.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Magpie attacks are always directed at the head.’ Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

For his part, Nick Cilento doubts that the traditional method of removing – that is, shooting – a troublesome bird is the best way of dealing with the problem. He suggests further research be undertaken and for experiments to be done where humans supplement the magpies’ diet by giving them food. Make friends, not war, seems to be the philosophy.

That may be so, and could be worth a try, although some people would argue that the Australian magpie remains the most serious avian menace in the world. In advice to people worried about being attacked by magpies, BirdLife Australia says it is important to remember that magpies are native wildlife, so it is illegal to harm them. It is also important to remember that they only swoop at people for a few weeks during the nesting season – mainly during the period when young birds have just left the nest and are being protected by their parents.

The simplest and best solution is to avoid the area for a few weeks but, if this isn’t practical, another suggestion is to wave a stick above your head, while cyclists sometimes attach stiff plastic strips to their helmets so they project about 10 to 15cm above the head.

If victims have tried these suggestions and they have not worked, BirdLife Australia says local state conservation officers may be able to assist, “though this is at their discretion – and remember, it is illegal to harm magpies”.

• This is an edited extract from An Uncertain Future: Australian Birdlife in Danger by Geoffrey Maslen, published by Hardie Grant Books