dealing with magpies

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 16:35:23 -0700 (PDT), ross_w <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

This is pretty much a question for Australian readers, unless there
are other countries with birds that get aggressive during nesting
season.

My problem is that my route to work takes me past a magpie nesting
tree. Last September these magpies attacked me every time I went past
this tree, and I have the dents in my helmet to show for it. they tend
to fly up and attack from behind your head with their beaks.

Going down the hill is OK because I am gone before they notice I'm
there.

Coming back, I'm climbing in low range and it is more difficult to
escape.

Does anyone have ways that they discourage these attacks? I have heard
of painting large eyes on the back of the helmet and using a
visibility pennant higher than your head (they attack they highest
point apparently. Do any of these work?

Right now the birds are not nesting, but once winter is over they'll
be back, and I want to be ready for them...

Oh and magpies are protected in NSW, so solutions involving the death
or injury of the birds are probably not legal.

Dear Ross,

Yes, a feather or two sticking up from a helmet and eyes painted on
the back are common defenses.

You could also try to think of another route for your return.

Or hope that the birds don't show up this year.

This wiki entry mentions two other solutions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Magpie#Swooping

The hand-feeding approach would be more fun than getting them declared
a nuisance and relocated or destroyed.

But if the birds are attacking bicyclists, then someone's going to end
up hurt, either from a beak in the eye or a crash.

A beak or claw with a half-pound of angry bird behind it can do a lot
of damage if you turn your head to see what's coming. Show the local
authorities the dents in your helmet and remind them that you were
riding a bike at the time.

Before West Nile fever wiped them out along the Arkansas River, the
magpies around here could be a bit territorial. A pair nesting in my
backyard killed garter snakes on the walk and harried the basset
hound, neither of which were any threat to the nest.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

ross_w said:

This is pretty much a question for Australian readers, unless there
are other countries with birds that get aggressive during nesting
season.

My problem is that my route to work takes me past a magpie nesting
tree. Last September these magpies attacked me every time I went past
this tree, and I have the dents in my helmet to show for it. they tend
to fly up and attack from behind your head with their beaks.

Going down the hill is OK because I am gone before they notice I'm
there.

Coming back, I'm climbing in low range and it is more difficult to
escape.

Does anyone have ways that they discourage these attacks? I have heard
of painting large eyes on the back of the helmet and using a
visibility pennant higher than your head (they attack they highest
point apparently. Do any of these work?

Right now the birds are not nesting, but once winter is over they'll
be back, and I want to be ready for them...

Oh and magpies are protected in NSW, so solutions involving the death
or injury of the birds are probably not legal.

I have seen people using long cable ties on their helmets. Leave the
excess untrimmed and standing vertically from the top of the helmet
like antennae. Haven't tried it myself as the magpies that attack me
aren't that vicious.

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 16:35:23 -0700 (PDT), ross_w <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

My problem is that my route to work takes me past a magpie nesting
tree. Last September these magpies attacked me every time I went past
this tree, and I have the dents in my helmet to show for it. they tend
to fly up and attack from behind your head with their beaks.

At least you've found a use for bike helmets!

Ross Wonderley said:

This is pretty much a question for Australian readers, unless there
are other countries with birds that get aggressive during nesting
season.

My problem is that my route to work takes me past a magpie nesting
tree. Last September these magpies attacked me every time I went past
this tree, and I have the dents in my helmet to show for it. they tend
to fly up and attack from behind your head with their beaks.

Going down the hill is OK because I am gone before they notice I'm
there.

Coming back, I'm climbing in low range and it is more difficult to
escape.

Does anyone have ways that they discourage these attacks? I have heard
of painting large eyes on the back of the helmet and using a
visibility pennant higher than your head (they attack they highest
point apparently. Do any of these work?

Right now the birds are not nesting, but once winter is over they'll
be back, and I want to be ready for them...

Oh and magpies are protected in NSW, so solutions involving the death
or injury of the birds are probably not legal.

Get a new pet to accompany you on your rides:
<http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/data/media/1/peregrine-falcon_6175.jpg>.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

In article
<[email hidden]>,

ross_w said:

This is pretty much a question for Australian readers, unless there
are other countries with birds that get aggressive during nesting
season.

My problem is that my route to work takes me past a magpie nesting
tree. Last September these magpies attacked me every time I went past
this tree, and I have the dents in my helmet to show for it. they tend
to fly up and attack from behind your head with their beaks.

Going down the hill is OK because I am gone before they notice I'm
there.

Coming back, I'm climbing in low range and it is more difficult to
escape.

Does anyone have ways that they discourage these attacks? I have heard
of painting large eyes on the back of the helmet and using a
visibility pennant higher than your head (they attack they highest
point apparently. Do any of these work?

Right now the birds are not nesting, but once winter is over they'll
be back, and I want to be ready for them...

Oh and magpies are protected in NSW, so solutions involving the death
or injury of the birds are probably not legal.

Ross,

I know the problem well. I only travel that route once a week in nesting
season.

My doubts about eyes on the helmet and cable ties is that they are
static and magpies are smarter than that.

I have thought about moving deterrents such as streamers or one of those
plastic windmills on a stick that you see at sideshows. The drawback
with either strategy is that it instantly classifies you as a dork. Is
the solution worth the social disgrace?

You need to be able to protect your neck as well as your helmet - not
that it does much damage to your helmet but a swooping magpie is one of
those experiences you are happy to have just once in life.

At least your speed increases as the adrenalin kicks in.

What about a strobe light from a chandler (Whitworths in Sydney is good)?

Let us know if you hit on the 100% solution.

regards,
Darryl

bad karma?
where's your status amung animals ? positive?
try feeding the magpie.
can you whistle? whistle a tune on your approach. something cheerful.
christmas tune does it. do aussies whistle "jingle bells"? a favoirte
here at consumerville.
what does a magpie sound like? whistle magpie and JB
change your smell and helmet color when you start whistling and
feeding the birds.

datakoll said:

bad karma?
where's your status amung animals ? positive?
try feeding the magpie.
can you whistle? whistle a tune on your approach. something cheerful.
christmas tune does it. do aussies whistle "jingle bells"? a favoirte
here at consumerville.
what does a magpie sound like? whistle magpie and JB
change your smell and helmet color when you start whistling and
feeding the birds.

I surmise you've never been the target of an angry magpie.

10 months of the year, they're wonderful birds. Smart, not too shabby
looking, inquisitive and often humerous.

I've got a whole family singing and carrolling outside my window at
work right now... very pleasant sound. Come nesting season though, the
only thing you'll hear is the 'clack' as the little blighter just
misses your head.

More aggressive ones have been known to attack the eyes.. even when
wearing helmets.
Look at some of the warnings on
http://www.bq.org.au/cycle-info/hazards.shtml

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 22:10:20 -0700 (PDT), [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

datakoll said:

bad karma?
where's your status amung animals ? positive?
try feeding the magpie.
can you whistle? whistle a tune on your approach. something cheerful.
christmas tune does it. do aussies whistle "jingle bells"? a favoirte
here at consumerville.
what does a magpie sound like? whistle magpie and JB
change your smell and helmet color when you start whistling and
feeding the birds.

I surmise you've never been the target of an angry magpie.

10 months of the year, they're wonderful birds. Smart, not too shabby
looking, inquisitive and often humerous.

I've got a whole family singing and carrolling outside my window at
work right now... very pleasant sound. Come nesting season though, the
only thing you'll hear is the 'clack' as the little blighter just
misses your head.

More aggressive ones have been known to attack the eyes.. even when
wearing helmets.
Look at some of the warnings on
http://www.bq.org.au/cycle-info/hazards.shtml

Dear Duncan,

Thanks for the wonderful illustration of regional variation, one of my
favorite topics.

Magpies in the USA occasionally harry smaller animals near their
nests, but they scarcely ever bother people.

Your fierce Australian magpies have their own warning web-page, with
that Google map marking the most dangerous places!

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

datakoll said:

what does a magpie sound like?

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/images/audio/gymnorhina-tibicen.mp3
http://www.anbg.gov.au/sounds/magpie-group.mp3
http://www.anbg.gov.au/sounds/magpie.mp3

John

In article
<[email hidden]>,

ross_w said:

This is pretty much a question for Australian readers, unless there
are other countries with birds that get aggressive during nesting
season.

My problem is that my route to work takes me past a magpie nesting
tree. Last September these magpies attacked me every time I went past
this tree, and I have the dents in my helmet to show for it. they tend
to fly up and attack from behind your head with their beaks.

Going down the hill is OK because I am gone before they notice I'm
there.

Coming back, I'm climbing in low range and it is more difficult to
escape.

Does anyone have ways that they discourage these attacks? I have heard
of painting large eyes on the back of the helmet and using a
visibility pennant higher than your head (they attack they highest
point apparently. Do any of these work?

Right now the birds are not nesting, but once winter is over they'll
be back, and I want to be ready for them...

Oh and magpies are protected in NSW, so solutions involving the death
or injury of the birds are probably not legal.

Stop and make friends? Magpies are smart.
I would try stopping and talking.
(squash racket for back up)

Also get a magpie bird call and try it out.

The crows around here can sometimes get on toot.
Some crow will take a seat and start yakking for
an hour or two. One day I remembered the crow
call given to me (along with some other quality
whistles at Christmas.) I cracked the window and
from behind a curtain started calling back. The
crow got puzzled, angry, nervous, then took off.
The crows do not hang near my house anymore.

I get buzzed by hummingbirds.

--
Michael Press

ross_w said:

This is pretty much a question for Australian readers, unless
there are other countries with birds that get aggressive
during nesting season.

My problem is that my route to work takes me past a magpie
nesting tree. Last September these magpies attacked me every
time I went past this tree, and I have the dents in my helmet
to show for it. they tend to fly up and attack from behind
your head with their beaks.

Going down the hill is OK because I am gone before they notice
I'm there.

Coming back, I'm climbing in low range and it is more
difficult to escape.

Does anyone have ways that they discourage these attacks? I
have heard of painting large eyes on the back of the helmet
and using a visibility pennant higher than your head (they
attack they highest point apparently. Do any of these work?

Right now the birds are not nesting, but once winter is over
they'll be back, and I want to be ready for them...

Oh and magpies are protected in NSW, so solutions involving
the death or injury of the birds are probably not legal.

Cable ties protruding from the helmet seem to work. Make sure
that they are protecting your ears as well, and wear glasses.

If you've got the time, stop and look at the offending bird.
Unlike many other birds, a magpie will never swoop while you're
watching it (the theory behind the extra set of eyes glued to
the helmet - but they learn fast).

Sometimes staring at them for long enough seems to disuade them
from swooping when you set off again.

They don't seem to realize that pedestrians and cyclists are the
same species. Many will attack one but not the other, bringing
into question the effectiveness of making friends by feeding
them.

John

John Henderson said:

ross_w said:

This is pretty much a question for Australian readers, unless
there are other countries with birds that get aggressive
during nesting season.

Quoted message said:

My problem is that my route to work takes me past a magpie
nesting tree. Last September these magpies attacked me every
time I went past this tree, and I have the dents in my helmet
to show for it. they tend to fly up and attack from behind
your head with their beaks.

Quoted message said:

Going down the hill is OK because I am gone before they notice
I'm there.

Quoted message said:

Coming back, I'm climbing in low range and it is more
difficult to escape.

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have ways that they discourage these attacks? I
have heard of painting large eyes on the back of the helmet
and using a visibility pennant higher than your head (they
attack they highest point apparently. Do any of these work?

Quoted message said:

Right now the birds are not nesting, but once winter is over
they'll be back, and I want to be ready for them...

Quoted message said:

Oh and magpies are protected in NSW, so solutions involving
the death or injury of the birds are probably not legal.

Cable ties protruding from the helmet seem to work. Make sure
that they are protecting your ears as well, and wear glasses.

If you've got the time, stop and look at the offending bird.
Unlike many other birds, a magpie will never swoop while you're
watching it (the theory behind the extra set of eyes glued to
the helmet - but they learn fast).

Sometimes staring at them for long enough seems to disuade them
from swooping when you set off again.

They don't seem to realize that pedestrians and cyclists are the
same species. Many will attack one but not the other, bringing
into question the effectiveness of making friends by feeding
them.

John

I have seen this too. There are a pair of magpies that nest in the
main st of Maitland. The council pruned the trees in spring last year
and left this one branch that had magpies nesting in it. I bet they
were surprised to have their hidden home exposed for all the world to
see...

Anyway these magpies have hundreds of people walking past in the mall
below every day and don't respond at all. Ride past on a bike
though...

So the council don't need rangers in the springtime to enforce their
"no bikes in high st mall" rule, the magpies do it for them.

I think it comes down to the familiar vs the unfamiliar. My parents
had a pair of magpies nesting in the big ironbark in their backyard.
She would feed them occasionally and they never touched us or anyone
emerging from the house. Kids walking past on the path outside the
fence were fair game.

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I will take a small bag of mince
with me now and then and hopefully come September the magpies will
know me well enough to leave me alone. If not, I'll try some of the
other suggestions.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

datakoll said:

what does a magpie sound like?

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/images/audio/gymnorhina-tibicen.mp3
http://www.anbg.gov.au/sounds/magpie-group.mp3
http://www.anbg.gov.au/sounds/magpie.mp3

or...

"and Quardle ardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said"

.... as Dennis Glover wrote.

Mike

'Magpies are omnivores and eat most anything. So soaked cat/dog chow,
hard boiled eggs, fruit and insects would provide a decent diet in the
meantime.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvidae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_gazza_ladra
I'm pleased the magpie is in the jay family. I have a group of jay
friends in the backyard calling for peanuts. Jays call, I crack
several peanuts, wet and put out on the feeder. Jays are intelligent
and conversational in sign/body language like crows. Crows are the
bird equivalent of an MLB 3B coach.
Today for the first time, I heard the jays talking to each other.
Feed the magpie, develop a positive attitude. Magpie are described as
commensurate. That attitude is what cycling should cycle thru, a mesh
with the environment.

datakoll said:

'Magpies are omnivores and eat most anything. So soaked cat/dog chow,
hard boiled eggs, fruit and insects would provide a decent diet in the
meantime.'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_gazza_ladra
I'm pleased the magpie is in the jay family. I have a group of jay
friends in the backyard calling for peanuts. Jays call, I crack
several peanuts, wet and put out on the feeder. Jays are intelligent
and conversational in sign/body language like crows. Crows are the
bird equivalent of an MLB 3B coach.
Today for the first time, I heard the jays talking to each other.
Feed the magpie, develop a positive attitude. Magpie are described as
commensurate. That attitude is what cycling should cycle thru, a mesh
with the environment.

Dropping some mince for these ones as I ride past may be a good
strategy. The plan is to start now, and hopefully by the time nesting
season starts they will not regard me as a threat, which appears to be
in line with what you are suggesting.

Just a point though, you are referring to a different magpie. The
Australian one is Artamidae not Corvidae. Artamidae includes
butcherbirds, Australian magpies and currawongs. The Australian Magpie
looks similar to the European one, and that's how it got its name.
They are also well known for being aggressive during the nesting
season, bearing in mind they are only protecting their families the
best way they know how.

Now the three rottweilers that have been seen loose near the same
location in Aberglasslyn Rd... Well it's the contents of the water
bottle in the face for them! (and pedal faster) followed by a chat
with the owner.

datakoll said:

'Magpies are omnivores and eat most anything. So soaked cat/dog chow,
hard boiled eggs, fruit and insects would provide a decent diet in the
meantime.'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvidaehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_gazza_ladra
I'm pleased the magpie is in the jay family. I have a group of jay
friends in the backyard calling for peanuts. Jays call, I crack
several peanuts, wet and put out on the feeder. Jays are intelligent
and conversational in sign/body language like crows. Crows are the
bird equivalent of an MLB 3B coach.
Today for the first time, I heard the jays talking to each other.
Feed the magpie, develop a positive attitude. Magpie are described as
commensurate. That attitude is what cycling should cycle thru, a mesh
with the environment.

Dropping some mince for these ones as I ride past may be a good
strategy. The plan is to start now, and hopefully by the time nesting
season starts they will not regard me as a threat, which appears to be
in line with what you are suggesting.

Just a point though, you are referring to a different magpie. The
Australian one is Artamidae not Corvidae. Artamidae includes
butcherbirds, Australian magpies and currawongs. The Australian Magpie
looks similar to the European one, and that's how it got its name.
They are also well known for being aggressive during the nesting
season, bearing in mind they are only protecting their families the
best way they know how.

Now the three rottweilers that have been seen loose near the same
location in Aberglasslyn Rd... Well it's the contents of the water
bottle in the face for them! (and pedal faster) followed by a chat
with the owner.

AMAZING INTERNET Google Earth gives a view of your town/road and

http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/nrenpa.nsf/LinkView/838467C25F04F89BCA256C2100166A833882F6D25A5CBF6CCA256C290005F61B

try pepper spray on the Rotts

datakoll said:

bad karma?
where's your status amung animals ? positive?
try feeding the magpie.
can you whistle? whistle a tune on your approach. something cheerful.
christmas tune does it. do aussies whistle "jingle bells"? a favoirte
here at consumerville.
what does a magpie sound like? whistle magpie and JB
change your smell and helmet color when you start whistling and
feeding the birds.

Alternatively, stop, look around for animal liberationists, draw a
slingshot from your pocket (sustainably built from an old tube), pick
up a handful of pebbles, stalk the [censored] and when it stops, nail it
up the jacksy. Repeat. "You may take the slingshot from my cold, dead
hand".

Unfortunately, DK, the psychological/genetic/whatever damage is
already done on these rogue birds. The worst need to be removed.

Donga

datakoll said:

AMAZING INTERNET Google Earth gives a view of your town/road and

http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/nrenpa.nsf/LinkView/838467C25F04F89BCA2...

try pepper spray on the Rotts

This is the exact spot
http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=-32.714141,151.537567&spn=0.004098,0.008444&t=h&z=17&msid=103058890636466926611.00044a6ac671661002c5e