Magpie leaves two-year-old bloodied after playground attack

A TRIP to a Brisbane playground turned vicious for this family and left a two-year-old boy with puncture marks to his face.

A swooping magpie left two-year-old Tommy injured.

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A BRISBANE mum has warned parents to beware of a swooping magpie that left her two-year-old son with scratches and puncture marks on his face.

Kitty Fielding said the attack happened when she and her children went to a play area at Booker Park at Bellbowrie last month.

Ms Fielding said she and her children went to the “little kids area” of the park.

“There were no signs up there — there was at the big park but not the little one,” she said.

Sophia, 5, and Tommy, 2, ran off to play in the playground when the protective magpie appeared.

“It swooped at Sophia first and started clawing at her head and I was shouting at her to come over to me and get under the picnic table,” she said.

“When I turned back around, it was clawing and pecking at Tommy’s face. It was all tears and screams and blood,” she said.

“It was like Hitchcock’s The Birds.”

Ms Fielding said there were other people in the park with young children who saw the attack.

“They grabbed their kids and ran,” she said.

“Even when I drove past (later), there were some kids getting swooped.”

But Ms Fielding said the attack could’ve been a lot worse.

“If it’d gotten his eye, it could’ve blinded him,” she said.

Not surprisingly, her children were reluctant to return to the play area in the wake of the attack.

“When I went to go near the park the other day, they were like ‘no!’ It’s too fresh in their memory I think.”

A Brisbane City Council spokesman said swooping birds, including magpies, were protected under State Government law, and it is a serious offence to harm them.

“On September 23, council installed warning signage at Booker Park, Bellbowrie following a report to council about swooping magpies in the area,” he said.

“Swooping season typically occurs between July and December and residents are encouraged to take appropriate safety precautions such as wearing a hat, carrying an umbrella or wearing glasses to protect their eyes when travelling through nesting areas.”

The spokesman said council offers a range of tips and information to educate residents about swooping magpies, which is available through Council’s website or by phoning 3403 8888.