Pukeko attacks have left at least two users of Whakatane's popular Bird Walk bleeding this week.



Whakatane man Peter Walker was attacked by three pukeko about 2pm on Monday.



He was just beginning his walk through Mokoroa Bush Scenic Reserve from the top of the Bird Walk at Whitehorse Drive, when some fluffy black pukeko chicks crossed his path.



"Next minute the mother was attacking me, she was calling out and then two other birds came flying and kicked me in the back and down my arm."



He threw the birds off and took off down the path, bleeding from shallow cuts to his arms from the birds' claws.



"That's the fastest I've ever done that track."



He arrived home, "looking like I'd been through a meat cleaver", and told his family he had been attacked.



"They all laughed when I told them it was by pukekos."



Then on Tuesday, Mike Cummings of Whakatane was beginning his Bird Walk run when he saw some pukeko chicks.



Suddenly something came flying at him, screeching.



"I felt a bang on the side of my head that knocked my hat off, then the pukeko attacked me with its feet."



The bird left a 10 centimetre scratch on the top of Mr Cummings' head.



Cummings said people with children should be especially careful around the track.



Both men believed the birds were trying to protect the chicks.



Gisborne-based Department of Conservation ranger Don McLean said the pukeko breeding season was from August to March, with an incubation period for eggs of about 25 days.



"They are known to be aggressive when breeding.



"The main advice that we can give is to avoid going on walks through swampy areas or in places such as the Bird Walk, where birds are currently being aggressive.



"The birds which are currently being aggressive should get through this phase in the next few weeks."



Neighbours of the pukeko pond beside the Bird Walk entrance counted two adult birds and two nearing adulthood living there.



Lilian Sparrow said she and husband Dave had lived over the road from the "pooks" for five years, and thought they were a pest.



When they arrived there were two, then the population grew to 11 birds before shrinking back to two again, though those were breeding - "and before you know it, we'll be back to 11".



She said they added nothing to the area.



They were territorial, pulled up her plants to eat the roots, ate the eggs and chicks of other birds and stopped them breeding, and came scrounging at houses for food - leaving droppings as they went.



She speculated the birds were nesting closer to the track than before, and mothers were being overprotective.



Neighbour Kellie Butler said her husband had narrowly missed being attacked by the birds on Tuesday, and she was not keen on walking past them herself.



She had warned her children to stay away.



When the Beacon visited the Bird Walk on Wednesday, the pukeko were noisily protective of their safely hidden chicks, screeching aggressively, but did not attack.



Whakatane District Council manager of community facilities Paula Chapman said the council had received one recent complaint about aggressive pukeko at Sullivan Lake on King Street.



Last year the swamp-loving, blue-suited, mischievous pukeko was voted New Zealand Bird of the Year in a Forest and Bird poll, in which it received 1480 votes.

- Whakatane Beacon