It is the low-flying hazard that is so ingrained in Australian culture that a Bluey episode was devoted to it.
As winter turns into spring, Aussies best get used to aerial attacks from dive-bombing black-and-white birds.
Make no mistake about it, magpie swooping season is now upon us.
However, while cyclists, scooter riders and passers-by brace themselves for the aerial onslaught, a self-styled magpie whisperer from Adelaide believes he has cracked how to avoid being swooped.
Mark Muscat, known as The Magpie Man, has lifelong rapport with the mischievous birds and claims a proud record of avoiding swoops.
The 66-year-old grew up around magpies and said that as a child one even appeared to adopt his family, becoming a regular visitor to the family homestead.
And he believes this has given him the ideal way of avoiding the dreaded swoop.
“My mother would always buy big bags of wheat and throw it out in the yard for the birds and one magpie almost ended up living with us,” Mr Muscat said.
“That was when it all started for me. I would apparently sit there and sing with it and from them I’ve always been able to warble like a magpie”
Mr Muscat’s hidden skill landed him an appearance on Australia’s Got Talent, a social media following and even acting roles voicing magpies in cartoons.
But he said it had also scored him a bizarre immunity to swoop attacks – even claiming to have successfully dissuaded an oncoming bird.
“What I tend to do is give them the eye and if they do swoop, I will just sing to them and they stop in their tracks,” he said.
“I have no idea what I’m saying to them, but somehow it works. They hear me warble and just stop – I don’t know if they suddenly think I’m a magpie too.”
Mr Muscat has several social media accounts under The Magpie Man name where he has shared his uncanny ability with the world.
He said the key to making a perfect magpie call was to project the sound from the back of your throat, rather than your mouth.
“I always just assumed everybody could do it and never thought it was anything special,” he said. “But I’ve only ever met one other person that can do it anywhere near the same.”
WHY DO MAGPIES SWOOP?
While Mr Muscat lays claim to being immune, hundreds of others in Australia are not so lucky.
According to the website Magpie Alert, a community tool that allows people to anecdotally report swoops, more than 600 magpie attacks have already taken place in August this year.
The website keeps a track record of the number of reported swoops and displays where the incidents have happened.
Reports have started flooding in across Australia, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in particular reporting large numbers.
According to conservation charity Bird Life Australia, magpies swoop when they have young in their nests – explaining the time of year it occurs.
The female magpie will stay in the nest guarding the eggs, while the male swoops on the perceived threat.
“Magpies swoop to protect their chicks from whatever they perceive as nearby threats,” the charity’s website reads.
“To a magpie, the faster you’re moving, the greater the threat, which is why cyclists, joggers and dog walkers are common targets.”
As Bandit explains to daughter Bingo when confronted by a swooping magpie in the Bluey episode: “He’s just being a good dad.”
BIRD FLU IMPACT
While swooping season is upon us, the avian world continues to be rocked by a significant challenge.
The new H5 strain of bird flu has reached Australian shores, with cases now being found in native as well as migratory birds.
In recent days, the first cases in mammals have also been discovered.
However, experts say the outbreak is unlikely to have much of an impact on the swooping habits of magpies.
Michelle Campbell-Ward, an associate professor at The University of Sydney, said the species had been identified as being low risk.
“There has only been a single case in an Australian magpie to date, that was in Victoria,” she said.
“It is impossible to predict how many additional cases will occur and where or what impact that might have on the population dynamics in specific locations.
“Risk analysis work has identified the species as being moderately susceptible to the disease at an individual level, but from a population level perspective, the Australian magpie has been assessed as a species of low risk.”
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