The Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) has issued a warning to the community that with spring just around the corner, the magpie swooping season will soon be on us.
Director of ACT Parks and Conservation, Daniel Iglesias said that as the weather warmed up magpies would be beginning to build their nests around Canberra to raise their young.
“A majority of magpies will not be prone to swooping,” Mr Iglesias said.
“However if a magpie feels threatened by an intruder, swooping is a defensive method for them to protect their young.”
He said that as birds go, magpies were quite intelligent and could remember colours and noises which they associated with danger.
“If a magpie feels threatened, its instinct will be to swoop the intruder,” Mr Iglesias said.
“When people harass magpies, it encourages increasingly aggressive behaviour.”
He said to avoid being swooped, people could take simple precautions, such as:
* Walking quickly through magpie territory, not running;
* Taking alternate routes if possible;
* Wearing hats, helmets, glasses or holding an umbrella;
* Keeping domestic animals on a leash while in magpie territory;
* Maintaining eye contact with the magpie; and
* Walking bikes through magpie territory.
“Magpies are a valuable part of our native wildlife,” Mr Iglesias said. “By following some simple precautions we can live in harmony with them.”
He said residents living with a territorial magpie in their your neighbourhood could contact Access Canberra on 13 22 81 so that rangers could determine if warning signs needed to be installed.
More information about living with magpies in Canberra can be accessed on the EPSD Directorate website at this PS News link.
