Most Australians are accustomed to warnings about the dangers of swooping magpies, but another species of bird appears to have become an active threat to cyclists and pedestrians.

An emu has been filmed pursuing a man riding a bicycle in Canberra, forcing the cyclist to take evasive action by furiously pedalling away.

Chris Wilson posted the video of another cyclist's encounter to Instagram yesterday, which he filmed after himself escaping the large bird at Paddys River Road near the Cotter River.

"In Canberra, the bush capital, you expect to be swooped by magpies – but never charged by an emu," Mr Wilson told 9News.com.au.

"I rode past and saw emus standing around and I thought 'wow that's great' as you never ordinarily see them in their natural environment.

"I thought I'd stop to get a photo.

"One of them started running at me – they tend to really intimidate – they stretch their head up as high as they can and give a drumming sound from their throats which startled me a little bit."

After escaping unscathed, Mr Wilson warned a passing cyclist about the emu, and started filming when it became obvious the emu was still belligerent.

"There was another cyclist going past and I warned him to be careful of that emu," he said.

"He came back to get a photo as well

"It just started chasing after him – it turned around and just took off."

Mr Wilson posted another video showing a much calmer side to the emu, and said he saw the same emu charging three different people in quick succession.

"Apart from startling me I didn't think I'd be in any real danger," he said.

"Once you got out of its range it never seemed to care – it was sort of a warning charge – more of a 'get out of my way' sort of thing.

"I jumped though because I never knew what it was going to do.

"It reminded me of the old Road Runner cartoon."

Emu expert and ranger Shelley Swain told Fairfax Media that 2016 is the first year that Access Canberra has received complaints about emus chasing people.

According to Ms Swain, the attack may have been due to a protective male emu that could have been experiencing its first breeding season.