In Tasmania, no one has to wear an ice-cream container with eyes on their head when magpies are breeding.
That’s because the magpies there don’t swoop – and no one knows why.
Magpie Alert, a website that tracks and maps swoops and any resultant injuries, shows 3,271 reported swoopings and 426 injuries around Australia so far this year. None of them are in Tasmania.
Eric Woehler, a Tasmanian bird ecologist, says there are regional variations in magpies. Some think a genetic difference might explain why Tasmanian magpies don’t go for human eyeballs, but he doubts that theory.
“It would be self-defeating,” he says, because the male swoops to protect the female as she incubates her eggs.
He says it could be that Tasmania’s urban density isn’t as high as other places, or that it has more open, green space, so the birds are more relaxed and less aggressive with fewer intruders.
“It might be one factor, it might be 100 factors,” he says. “We don’t know. It’s an unknown quantity why Tasmanian birds behave noticeably differently to mainland birds.”
Gisela Kaplan, a University of New England emeritus professor in animal behaviour, says Tasmanian magpies are smaller, which might make them more careful about taking someone on.
She says magpies would prefer not to swoop and only do it to defend their families from invaders.
Other birds, including noisy miners, butcherbirds, masked lapwings and magpie larks also swoop in breeding season. But the magpie is guilty of inflicting the most eye injuries.
On Magpie Alert, there are also reports of ear injuries. “Sarge” says he was swooped 15 or more times while riding his bike on Federation Trail in Melbourne. “Injured left ear hit five times, lot of blood. Also blood drawn left elbow,” he reports.
Woehler says the “iconic” Australian magpie gets a bad rap.
“They’re remarkably intelligent, with strong social bonds – a unit that lives together, works together, looks after each other,” he says.
“And they are very tolerant of people. They come into our suburbs, our peri-urban areas, taking advantage of open space and gardens to feed. They’ve injected themselves into our lives.
“They’re defending their eggs, their chicks, and we’re seen as a threat. They are much maligned for basically being good parents.”
Kaplan, the author of Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of an Unusual Songbird, says people focus on the swooping, but that a bird will only swoop for about four weeks, while the female is on the nest. The birds are intriguing and far more complex than anyone thought 20 years ago, she says.
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“Since then lots of research has come out about their cognitive and problem-solving abilities,” she says. “Magpies are particularly charming and … they have set rules about the ways they interact. They’re kind to each other but unforgiving if rules are broken.
“They hold court. The entire family is in a semicircle, with the poor victim in the middle, they each peck it in turn.”
Another example of their ingenious behaviour is how they have affairs. “If a male wants to cheat he will turn his head over his shoulder and do mock foraging [until the coast is clear] then sneak into another property,” she says.
She says they’re excellent mimics of human speech, with better “diction” than parrots. “They get the dialect right,” she says. And they have a better repertoire than most songbirds, with a range over four octaves. “I call them Maria Callas,” she says.
As for those on the mainland hoping to avoid attack, Kaplan says there are better ways to protect yourself beyond cable ties and ice-cream cartons (or holographic anti-swooping tape).
Make friends with the magpie, she says. Let them see your face. Once a magpie has seen your face and realises you mean no harm, it’ll recognise you forever and leave you alone. If you’re a cyclist, let it see you putting on your helmet. And above all, be nice to them and give them space.
“They judge human behaviour and they usually judge it correctly,” she says.
Woehler says while the Tasmanian magpies are generally pacifists, it’s not that they never swoop. He once got a call about a magpie attacking students.
“It turns out the kids were throwing rocks,” he says.
