For the first time in Sean Dooley’s two decades of bird watching, he has been swooped twice this year by a nesting male magpie.
The magpie had met its match, however. Dooley works at Bird Life Australia, an organisation dedicated to conserving native birds and their habitats, and knows how to avoid a swoop without damage to the person or bird.
“I was able to practise what I preach but I felt a bit indignant,” he laughs. “I’m working for you guys, leave me alone!”
Australian magpies breed from late July to December, which means that swooping season stretches across half the year. But it peaks when magpie chicks hatch in September and early October.
“Despite all the hysteria around psycho magpies, it is just the male defending the chicks in the nest … until they are capable of fending for themselves,” Dooley says.
Magpies tend to rest high in tall trees, and can be found in gardens, parks or school grounds. So far, 2,000 magpie swooping attacks have been reported in 2022.
Though they are the most well known, magpies are not the only Australian swoopers.
The magpie lark – which resembles a miniature magpie, shares its name, but is not related – is the more dangerous swooper. Whereas magpies swoop from behind, magpie larks “tend to flap in front of you, and with its claws out can go for the eyes”, says Dooley.
The grey butcher bird – which is a relative of the magpie – is also known to swoop around their nests. And owls, though less frequently, swoop when people climb too close to their nests.
Sea birds, like gulls, are the only birds that will swoop all year round. Like kookaburras, they tend to swoop to “snatch food away”.
Dooley says it is a case of birds becoming too familiar with people feeding them.
The masked lapwing (also known as the spur-winged plover due to a spur on the bend of its wing) are also on the list of formidable swoopers. The masked lapwing nests on the ground, where their chicks and eggs easily camouflaged.
Less formidable is the noisy miner (a type of honeyeater), who will flap in front of a person and click their beaks. Dooley says their swoop can be almost comical at times.
“Although it is kind of culturally hilarious, there are serious consequences to being swooped,” he says.
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“Most of the serious swooping injuries reported are from the consequences of people reacting, rather than the swoop itself,” Dooley says. “But if people know about bird behaviour, you can react with less panic.”
It is about remaining calm and moving out of nesting territory.
“If you are swooped, do not run around or wave your arms screaming,” Dooley says.
Face the bird, place your arms above your head but avoid swiping at the bird so as not to exacerbate the bird’s sense of threat.
“It is not in the bird’s best interest to actually hit their target, because they can do damage to themselves,” Dooley explains. So instead of striking back, just walk away.
With a looming extinction crisis, escalating loss of bird habitats, and more species added to the list of endangered birds each year, Dooley says swooping is “not the major issue we are concerned with” when it comes to our feathered friends.
“Swooping is one of the few times people interact with birds, and it is a negative one,” he says. “The fact we have this hysteria every year shows the disconnection between the people and the creatures of the areas they live in.”
“It shows a need for understanding that we share our spaces, and through that understanding will come more harmony between the species.”