Magpie season...Again!

If you pull the eyes out of a teddybear and glue them to your helmet, it scares the magpies as they dive bomb you.

I have met several people who swear by this. I think they are affectionately known as 'cycling dorks'.

Magpies are alright. Not as bad as cane trucks.

ausgirl said:

Magpie season begins yet again. At least up here in Queensland. I haven't been attacked yet, but I've seen people get attacked by them. Last year the little buggers were getting pretty brave, with my helmet scratched at least 6 or 7 times by them and also one occasion where a wing brushed my face. I've also been attacked by up to 3 magpies at one time. The only way I know of stopping them from attacking is if you ride in a bunch, they seem a bit scared of you when there is 6 or more riders. Any comments or stories about the most hated birds in Australia?

Get a big plastic crow/raven and glue it to the top of your helmet. Just kidding, I've heard the eyes on the back of the helmet does work though. I lived in Brisbane for a couple of years and never could understand why the Magpie is so protected. Here in Texas if a bird put out a childs eye, it would be introduced to a shotgun right quick.

ausgirl said:

Magpie season begins yet again. At least up here in Queensland. I haven't been attacked yet, but I've seen people get attacked by them. Last year the little buggers were getting pretty brave, with my helmet scratched at least 6 or 7 times by them and also one occasion where a wing brushed my face. I've also been attacked by up to 3 magpies at one time. The only way I know of stopping them from attacking is if you ride in a bunch, they seem a bit scared of you when there is 6 or more riders. Any comments or stories about the most hated birds in Australia?

First law of riding in spring in Australia is that you ALWAYS get swooped. I think there's something about the movement of a bike that makes them go berserk - I've gone through spots where a magpie will leave pedestrians alone but swoop the **** out of me. Second law of magpie attacks is that they always seem to strike when I'm at the end of a ride, right on the edge of my threshold, maybe pedalling up a long false flat into a headwind. The good news is that I've found you've always got a bit more in the tank than you realise - and probably improved my sprinting! However, one thing to note is that going faster isn't always the best approach. I've sometimes found that if you try to sprint away, the magpie will chase you for farther and longer. Sometimes they back off sooner if you don't sprint but instead maintain a more steady speed. I did read somewhere that actually getting off the bike might stop the magpie attacking, although this seems like a recipe for disaster. I've never tried it out, to be honest. I mean, if it worked, great. If not, you're left with the problem of trying to remount while being repeatedly divebombed by an angry magpie Mum who thinks that you're going to kill her babies. Yeah, no thanks.

so19

Well, I agree with you, I'm not getting off my bike when a magpie is attacking me - that just sounds like you'd be asking for trouble. My policy is the sooner you get out of their territory the better - so ride fast. You know how when a dog chases most people will yell at it and it will often back off, I find i'm in that habit so i yell at the bird to "%&$# off" or "get lost" and then i'm disappointed when they keep attacking. What i don't get is why they are a protected species. Their numbers don't seem to be dropping and they are a pest, so why should they be protected?!

davidbod said:

Get a big plastic crow/raven and glue it to the top of your helmet. Just kidding, I've heard the eyes on the back of the helmet does work though. I lived in Brisbane for a couple of years and never could understand why the Magpie is so protected. Here in Texas if a bird put out a childs eye, it would be introduced to a shotgun right quick.

isnt the magpie just protecting its family?

I just accept that thats part of living in australia and we cant pick and choose which part of nature we accept and reject.

Who looks after the magpie babies once youve shot its mother??