Why dangerous bird habit could increase

The intelligent creatures remember individual facial features and stop swooping those who enter their territory regularly.However, Covid-19 masks make it difficult for a magpie to learn a person’s face, and they are particularly territorial during spring breeding.Griffith University magpie expert Darryl Jones told Canberra’s The Riot Act that magpies could step up their swooping and Canberra was a hub for the birds.“Because they can’t distinguish between who they think is a real problem they start to think, ‘It’s one of these people hiding behind a mask, OK, I’ll hit the lot of them’,” he said.“The density of magpies in Canberra is higher than anywhere else (in Australia). It follows that more magpies means more attacks.”In NSW, University of New England magpie expert and author Gisela Kaplan told NCA NewsWire that swooping was a warning to strangers and lockdowns forcing people to walk through parks could be a reason for more swooping.“They are wonderful creatures and usually parks are the only places with trees thick and tall enough for them to nest,” she said.“With a lot more people walking through parks whom magpies don’t recognise, that could lead to more swooping.”South Australian government advice urges people to use caution while magpies breed between August and October.“Females will typically lay between three and five eggs in early to mid-August and will sit on them for three weeks until they hatch,” the advice reads.“It’s during these times that some males defend their nests – from the time the eggs are laid until the young birds are fledged. They will attack anything they consider to be a threat – from a sparrow to a dog to a human.”A five-month-old baby was killed when her mother fell while trying to avoid a magpie swoop at a park in Brisbane earlier this month.A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said paramedics were called to the park following “reports that a mum had fallen with a baby in her arms”.

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