“Never actually seen a butcherbird swoop before,” one social media user said.
Another added: “Got to love this time of year”.
“We had this problem last year, even swooping our dog as well. We had taken their injured baby to the vet the year before. They must have remembered and seen us as a threat.”
A woman has to wear a helmet to put out her laundry as she gets swooped by a bird. Photo / TikTok / @gunkasey
“The sound of it hitting the helmet OMG,” one added.
Another said: “Hahah because it’s September in Australia”.
“I didn’t know butcherbirds swoop lol never seen it — this is my first time,” one commented.
Butcherbirds are similar to magpies, swooping between September and November during their breeding season. However, magpies are more known for this act.
Magpie Alert, a social media platform set up where cyclists, walkers or concerned members of the public can log run-ins with the birds, reported that 2,511 incidents had been reported. Of this, 257 had resulted in injuries.
In 2019, a 76-year-old cyclist died in Woonona, near Wollongong, after riding along a beach path when he was swooped by a magpie. He rode off the path and collided with a post. It resulted in serious head injuries, and eventually, his death.
The amount of incidents doesn’t bode well for the rest of spring, given Australia isn’t even a month into the season.
Swooping season is tied to the species’ fierce protectiveness during breeding and nesting, according to University of Southern Queensland wildlife science lecturer Meg Edwards.
“We see these swooping events when magpies have either eggs or chicks in the nest, and that’s usually between August and October,” Dr Edwards told NewsWire.
“When they’re coming out of winter, there’s lots of food availability so it’s when lots of animals have their mating season.”
Magpies will aggressively defend their nest for about six weeks after their babies have hatched, but only about 10% turn to swooping humans. People in cities, where there are more humans and more birds, are more likely to be the victim of swooping.
Edwards said avoiding places where magpies live and nest during breeding season was the best way to avoid a swooping attack.
“Education is key. For instance, having signs up in swooping areas is a really great move to educate people, and to let them know that they should potentially move on a little bit,” Edwards said.
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