Each day when nine-year-old Tylah Hartin leaves his Casino home it is game on with a local magpie, but in their case it is year-round and very much playtime.

'Maggie' waits by the fence, regular as clockwork.

In what might look like a dangerous game, Tylah has never been touched by Maggie.

"It's just kinda really playing with me," Tylah said.

The game is 'the swooping game' and it happens every time the boy leaves the house on his scooter or bike and continues all the way to the end of the street.

There the bird waits for Tylah's return and on the leg home it happens all over again.

Tylah talks with the bird — "I say 'what are ya doing Maggie?'"

In return, Maggie sings back to Tylah and takes another dive.

It is not just because it is breeding season right now, the time when magpies traditionally protect their nests and young.

"All year 'round, he just has a go," Tylah said.

Maggie the magpie takes aim at, but doesn't hit, Tylah. ( Supplied: Dee Hartin )

He said he sometimes gets annoyed with Maggie, but would miss it if the bird stopped.

"He's my best buddy," he said.

Magpies recognise faces

Tylah's grandmother Dee Hartin has captured the game on camera.

"It's quite funny to watch because it doesn't hurt Tylah, ever. It comes awfully close to him and his head, but it doesn't actually hit him," Ms Hartin said.

Tylah's family taught him to not be scared of magpies, even when it began diving at him. ( Supplied: Dee Hartin )

"I know when Tylah is outside the gate because Maggie is making sounds and flies down from the tree, or the gate, and just follows him up and down the footpath for anything up to an hour."

Ms Hartin said a year ago when the game first began she explained to Tylah that magpies recognise and remember faces.

"At first Tylah was like 'oh my god', because he'd heard a lot of bad stories about magpies swooping people and giving them injuries," Ms Hartin said.

"We explained that sometimes magpies do swoop and not to react too much and that's what [Tylah] has done, he just goes about his little joyride.

"We've tried to make him be not too frightened of the bird.

"I think the magpie really enjoys the activity and sometimes it's just flying along beside him as he's riding up the footpath. That's my cue to grab the camera."

Professor Gisela Kaplan, who has been studying magpie behaviour for 25 years, is delighted by the story of Tylah and the magpie.

"Magpies do form life-long friendships with people," Professor Kaplan said.

The author of Australian Magpie and professor of animal behaviour at the University of New England said playing games is in their nature.

"Swooping is an activity that only happens around breeding time," she said.

"The kind of flying activity of the experience with Tylah is very obviously a game.

"Magpies have the intelligence of a five year old child when it comes to game playing.

Nine-year-old Tylah tells Maggie it's game over and time to go home. ( Supplied: Dee Hartin )

"They can play hide and seek, so playing games is very much second nature."

Professor Kaplan said magpies form relationships with people in the same way that dogs do.

She said the bird can even learn names.

"It may well be possible that the bird will learn to call Tylah because (magpies) are very good mimics of human voices," Professor Kaplan said.