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‘Get out of there’: It’s not just magpies to watch out for this diving season
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‘Get out of there’: It’s not just magpies to watch out for this diving season

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You are walking the dog, or cycling, when you feel the feathers flying past your head. You’ve just been attacked, but not by a magpie. So what is it?
Darryl Jones, urban ecologist and retired research professor at Griffith University, says all the birds that emerge do so for one reason: to protect their nests from threats.

“All these birds do much the same thing. They try to keep what they perceive as a threat away from their chicks in the nest. That’s what the magpies do, they just do it in a particularly spectacular way.”

Urban ecologist Darryl Jones emphasizes that it is important not to antagonize emerging birds that are merely defending their nests. Source: Delivered / Darryl Jones

From the cries of the thorn-streaked masked lapwing to the colonies of noisy miners, here are the lesser-known culprits of nosedives and how to identify them.

Miners against Mynas

It’s easy to confuse these two birds, both of which travel in aggressive packs along the east coast of Australia. But only one species has the habit of catching people off guard.
“The one we’re talking about is the noisy miner,” Jones said.
Noisy miners are gray in color, with black cheeks and a yellow bill. Befitting their name, they make a lot of noise.

‘They are constantly busy with everything; it must drive the other birds crazy. Have you ever seen a kookaburra sitting there and these things buzzing around them like mosquitoes?’

A gray bird with a yellow beak, yellow eyes and yellow spots on its wings.

The noisy miners travel in packs and breed in colonies, meaning there are plenty of miners willing to defend their nests. Source: Getty / Universal image group

Jones said noisy miners are the most common non-magpie bird to practice diving flights. This is because they breed in colonies and it is the community that raises the chicks, meaning there are always miners ready and available to fend off potential threats.

However, injuries from surfacing miners are not common.
Often confused with the noisy miner is the common myna, or Indian myna. These are “brown, stocky things that walk on the ground most of the time.”

Jones said that although Indian mynas are as “viscous” as their gray counterparts, their preference for the ground means they do not dive.

The screeching plover

Another diving bird is the plover, or the masked lapwing.
The masked lapwing is found throughout the country and has a white belly, brown wings and a black crown. Their beaks are yellow and small thorns protrude from their wings.
“They have a habit of laying their eggs in the most ridiculous places, such as in the middle of car parks, schoolyards and cricket pitches, where people are bound to walk past,” Jones said.

By placing their nests on the ground, masked lapwings are always alert to threats, because the nests are “very vulnerable”.

Jones said lapwings rarely make contact when they dive, but the screeching sound they make as they approach is likely to scare you.

“They never hit, they just do it to scare you.”

Diving on purpose

Some birds aim to hit. Jones has singled out another common Australian species: butcherbirds.
“They’re nasty because they can take a little bit of flesh out of you if they bite you as they pass by. That has happened many times.’

Butcherbirds are similar in appearance to magpies, with black hoods and a white collar.

A bird with a white body, black feathers and black head.

The butcherbird is an aggressive diver that can cause injury, but the occurrence of dives is much rarer than in magpies. Source: MONKEY / Mary Evans

“They are much more difficult to deal with. Magpies are easy to catch, but butcher birds are too smart for that.”

Fortunately, Jones said, cases of butcherbirds turning up are rare.
Even rarer is a blow from a crow. But in busy cities with many threats, Jones says it’s possible to be ambushed by an Australian raven, for Sydneysiders, or a Torresian raven, if you’re in Brisbane.

“It is the abundant birds that have lost their fear of us.”

Are you being personally attacked by birds?

Some people who find themselves swooping down in the same spot repeatedly may wonder if a bird is after them. Jones said their instincts are correct.
Jones said crows and butcherbirds, like magpies, can recognize people. This means that if a bird has identified you as a threat, he or she will remember it.
Jones said he conducted an experiment in which his students walked around a tree where a magpie was breeding. They were instructed to look at the nest, which is “something a predator would do.”
“This person did that five times, and then the bird started attacking him. Just him. He remembered him,” Jones said.

“Not only that, he was the only person attacked. And years later, when he returned to the same spot, he was attacked again.”

As for how to avoid them, Jones said it’s important not to antagonize the bird, and he recommends wearing head protection such as hats or helmets.
“Being crouched will bring you very close to a nest full of precious nestlings, so get out of there!”

#magpies #watch #diving #season

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