Boy in viral magpie swooping video faces off with bird

A boy became a viral sensation after his dad filmed him screaming while being swooped by a magpie. Now he has faced off with the bird.

A young boy who became a viral sensation after his dad filmed him screaming while being swooped by a magpie has spoken about his encounter with the bird.

Max Sherwood, 10, and his dad Wayne were riding their bike and scooter near their Shellharbour home on the NSW south coast when they were set upon by the magpie.

The video, captured by Wayne, shows Max screaming as he rides his scooter down the hill while the magpie continually swoops at his back and head.

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Max was seen screaming as the magpie continually swooped him. Picture: W-j-s-m-c/Instagram

The video quickly went viral. Picture: W-j-s-m-c/Instagram

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Speaking to Sunrise this morning, Max said his father was the first to go down the hill and be swooped by the territorial bird.

This left an understandably nervous Max to come down afterwards.

“Just when I start going down, the magpie started swooping me and I was just screaming as loud as I can,” the 10-year-old told the program.

Though the bird appeared to make contact with Max multiple times in the video, he assured viewers he was not hurt.

Wayne posted to video to Instagram on Tuesday where it quickly amassed thousands of views.

“Australia is beautiful but our native birds are killers. They’ll eat your kids alive. Beware hahaha,” he captioned in the clip.

Wayne told Sunrise he never thought the video would gain so much attention.

“I thought maybe six or seven people might find it interesting, or something like that, but no, I didn’t think it would end up like this,” he said.

Just hours after his first encounter with the bird, Max decided to go back and face his fears with the help of his dad.

The pair filmed themselves starting back up at the top of the hill and riding past the magpie on their bikes.

“I hear it,” Max says seconds before the bird swoops down and hits his dad’s back.

The pair are seen laughing as the magpie swoops into view behind them, hitting Wayne multiple times before once again taking aim at Max.

Max smiles and laughs as they ride away from the bird.

Wayne once again posted the video to Instagram, praising his son for “conquering his demons”.

The first video has attracted thousands of comments, with many finding the footage hilarious.

Many social media users claimed being swooped by a magpie was a “rite of passage” in Australia.

“It’s right if passage living in Australia. That dad survived it once as now so has his kid,” one person wrote.

“Being attacked by a magpie is a rite of passage for Australian children. This is character building! The person filming did a great job in letting that kid learn to deal with adversity,’ another said.

One person claimed it was the “funniest thing I’ve seen this month”.

Max decided to go back and face off with the magpie once more. Picture: W-j-s-m-c/Instagram

However, not everyone thought the video was entertaining, with some claiming Wayne should have helped his son rather than filming the incident.

“A number of people have lost an eye to magpie attack. Not a laughing matter really. Kids should avoid known spots,” one social media user wrote.

“Poor little boy. Who ever was doing the video should have stopped filming him and gone to his aid,” another said.

One added: “Who stands around and films a child getting attacked and screaming. Disgusting.”

Magpie swooping season started earlier this year for southern parts of the country, with reports flooding in at the start of August from people who had been attacked by the territorial birds.

Dr Deb Kelly, from South Australia’s Department of Environment, told 7 News last month the birds usually began calling for a mate at the last full moon in August, so usually shouldn’t have a nest to protect this early in the year.

“I guess they don’t check their dates very well, maybe it’s the change in the weather,” she said.