2023 Magpie swooping hotspots in Melbourne revealed

The top hotspots for magpie swooping in Melbourne this year have been revealed, with experts giving a strange tip on how to avoid injury.

2023 Magpie swooping hotspots in Melbourne revealed

Cyclists in Melbourne’s suburbs should get off their bikes and walk through magpie swooping zones to avoid getting injured, an expert has revealed.

The advice comes as popular anecdotal swooping website Magpie Alert shows Victorian cyclists are more likely to be swooped than those in any other state.

More than 720 attacks have been recorded in Victoria since May, with cyclists were the most vulnerable victims, followed by e-scooter riders, motorcyclists, runners, and people scooting and skating.

People walking were also victims of protective magpies but there were fewer records of swooping.

Despite attacks being widespread throughout Melbourne, inner-city and northern suburbs had more magpie swooping recorded than others.

Birdlife Australia national public affairs manager and bird expert Sean Dooley said the cluster in those suburbs could be attributed to more residents settling around magpie habitats and using parks for exercise.

“Magpies are very intelligent birds, and they can recognise individuals, but once it gets over 30 or more people, they struggle to differentiate between who’s a threat and who’s not,” he said.

“They start to stereotype people and swoop them whether or not there’s been a threat.”

Mr Dooley said if people didn’t move out of the swooping area, the magpie often became more desperate to defend its nesting territory.

“They only swoop within 100m of the nest tree,” he said.

Top hotspots for magpie swooping in Melbourne this year have been revealed, as bikers remain at a higher risk of attacks.

Avid cyclist Matthew Broad had an unlucky streak with aggressive swoopers while riding around the city, saying this year‘s swooping season had been an “interesting one”.

“I‘ve had more magpies swoop me this year than I have in the last 10 years, and all in the same week,” he told the Herald Sun.

While on his recreational 100km loop around Melbourne, two magpies charged at Mr Broad at separate locations, with both drawing blood.

“I was cycling, doing about 60km/h along the Western Ring Road trail through Jacana, when I got swooped four times in succession, and he got a little piece out of the back of my neck,” he said.

“About half an hour later, as I continued going down through Moonee Ponds, another magpie cut a little piece out of my ear,” Mr Broad said.

The moment Mr Broad was attacked by a magpie captured on his camera.

The 49-year-old Spotswood resident, who commutes about 20km each way to his work as a manager in a packaging company, said he didn't see any warning signs before the two attacks.

“‘I am an experienced cyclist, so I ride reasonably fast. The second attack happened when I was riding probably 65km/h down through Moonee Ponds Monk Oval,” he said.
“I felt a big bug hit me in the head. It was like a wet kind of slap.

“It was sudden and felt like a bug hit you in the face, but it was my ear. That‘s when I realised the magpie bit my ear, and I felt blood dripping down my shoulder.”

Mr Broad quickly rode through a nearby underpass to get away from the bird.

“Luckily, it didn‘t have the opportunity to come back at me the second time because it couldn’t see me anymore and left me alone,” he said.

The bird continued to attack.

Birdlife Australia’s Mr Dooley said magpies targeted cyclists more because of their riding speed.

“Magpies only swoop a certain type of person and have a good memory. Cyclists tend to get hit more often because the person on the bike is going through the magpie territory too quickly for it to assess whether they are a threat or not. So they’ll sweep any cyclist,” Mr Dooley said.

Mr Dooley said riders could do the “counterintuitive” thing and get off the bike before entering a hotspot, and walk the bike through the area to avoid attacks.

“If you’re going through the hotspot quickly, then you may pose a threat in the magpie’s mind more than if you’re cycling through slowly,” he said.

Being calm and getting out of the swooping zone quickly without running in a panic minimises damage, but Mr Dooley says coexisting with the “protective” magpies was a “year-long effort”.

“We know from studies that people who feed magpies never get swept by those magpies. If you’re kind to magpies throughout the year, they get to know you in the neighbourhood,” he said.

“They are very smart with superb memories. If you’re gentle, kind, and not threatening to them throughout the year, then your chances of being swept by those magpies when it is sweeping season are reduced.

“It’s a temporary occurrence that only happens for some weeks when the chicks are at their most vulnerable.”

Mr Broad, who has taken a break from riding after the magpie attacks, said the territorial birds didn’t scare him but left him “annoyed”.

“I haven’t stopped riding because I am scared — it’s a bit of a seasonal hazard,” he said.

“I don’t like it, but it’s part of the fun of living in Melbourne in spring.”