Australia has magpies, but they're a different species to the UK bird of the same name. Ours are large and quite unafraid of humans ... and cats ... as this story shows.
Magpies are black and white currawongs, one of the birds to benefit greatly from 220 years of European settlement. Thye're everywhere and don't seem to have too many enemies. They also sing beautiful songs.
That's the good bit. One of their less endearing habits is to attack humans fearlessly during nesting season, which is in full swing now. And their preferred target is (drum roll) a cyclist. They're extremely territorial and a cyclist entering their territory is fair game. Now, there's a spot at the junction of Elm Avenue and Trevenna road at the entrance to the university where a family has taken up residence and I am attacked every day at the same spot. Usually, one of the pair of adult magpies dives me repeatedly, clawing my helmet and trying to knock me off. I can take this most of the time, but they raised their skills to new heights on Tuesday (yesterday).
The clever little balls of feathers decided to attack me simultaneously, coming in low instead of from a high tree branch. I can take one attacker, but it's much more difficult to fend off one from each side and both coming from behind. One of the birds didn't just claw at my helmet, but scratched my face. I arrived at work 5 minutes later dripping pools of blood! Some even ran down my clothes making a mess.
What would you do? I complained to the occupational safety office and got a quick response. Yes, the birds are an acknowleged hazard. Could they be captured and moved? No. Could they be eliminated? Yes, if I wanted that! It's now up to me. What would you do? Kill the parents and leave the youngsters or eggs in the nest? Or take a longer and hillier route?
AS
1 comment:
I think that I would take a different route to work to avoid 'Magpie Corner'
Here in Poole, UK, BBC Autumn-Watch is broadcasting on BBC2 nature live each evening from Brownsea Island.
Richard Snow.
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