What’s the most dangerous Australian animal? Is it a kangaroo on a suicide mission jumping at you as you drive? Is it a deadly spider enjoying the moistness inside your shoe? Or is it the crocodile lurking on a river bank on a sunny day? In my family, it is Sebastian – the magpie that stalks my daughters.
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They have had to change their routes to school and work to avoid this stalker who follows them from cable to cable. And occasionally, he swoops from above seeking their unprotected flesh and incredulous eyes.
My daughters, who just arrived from Greece, don’t believe that Sebastian - so different to his docile European counterparts - is really a magpie. The truth is, the Aussie magpie is just another unique phenomenon that sets us apart from the rest of the world.
Fiercely territorial, these testosterone-pumped creatures can’t help themselves. They view innocent passers-by as intruders posing a danger to their nest tree. When their attempts to protect their nest prove successful and the intruder inevitably leaves, they feel a sense of achievement. And they are encouraged to become even more aggressive next time.
Tensions escalate, and woe to dim-witted humans who don’t get the hint and keep coming back. Little do my daughters know that the worst is yet to come. Like all delusional stalkers, Sebastian will not stop his obsessive behaviour. It will only escalate come September.
Survival measures
Numerous counter-measures to avoid magpie attacks include:
- practical Aussie fashions, such as wearing ice-cream container hats or wearing hats with eyes drawn at the back of it because magpies won’t attack if they feel that they are being watched
- carrying a stick to poke the magpies as they attack
- putting spikes in your bike helmet
- avoiding bright-coloured clothes
- avoiding areas where magpies hang out
Reporting magpie attacks
There’s a magpie website called magpiealert.com where victims can report their attacks and see a map of all reported magpie swoopings – including those that cause serious injury.
Do you have a photo of a dangerous magpie in your area or an interesting magpie tale? We’d like to hear it. Send your local stories and photographs to mary.sinanidis@fairfaxmedia.com.au
10 things you might not know about magpies
- Australian magpies have one of the most complex bird songs in the world – it can range over four octaves.
- They produce a range of sounds, from a soft and pleasant warbling to a group caroling chorus that is considerably louder, reaching up to 100 decibels.
- These birds are very helpful around our gardens and parks as they eat up many garden bugs like the lawn-destroying curl grub, helping protect your plants.
- Magpies are found across Australia, but most states will have their own sub-species with its own unique plumage patterns.
- Magpies take good care of their young and have been known to receive help from other family members when raising their chicks.
- Their diet is varied and includes worms, insects, snails, spiders and sometimes even skinks, mice and other small animals.
- They even do their part to control the cane toad population, having learned a method of consuming the poisonous pest by flipping it over and eating its underside.
- Magpies are excellent mimics that can copy other birds’ calls and even human voices.
- Scientists have discovered that magpies use their beaks, eyes and body language to point out danger to other magpies.
- They are the first species other than humans and chimps to use pointing to communicate – proving they have higher cognitive abilities than previously thought.
