Magpie Mania

An overhelming dislike of magpies seems to grip the public at the start of spring - the media this week was full of complaints about these birds swooping passers by to protect her nest and her young. What a lot of people fail to recognise is that humans have taken away the magpie's home and habitat - we force them to nest in unnatural places and have removed their source of food - we have built homes, roads and surburbs on their original habitat, and then we expect them to trust us when we go near their nest!

The magpie is a native bird - a protected species in Australia. They are impressive intelligent birds and only swoop to protect their eggs and young. They guard an area of about 30 - 50 metres around their nest but once their chicks have fledged (which takes about 6 weeks) they stop their swooping behaviour.

Old time remedies such as wearing a hat or head gear with eyes painted on them has been said to stop these birds swooping. If you're riding a bicycle, putting a flag at the rear of the bike stops the birds from making contact with the person. However the obvious plan would be to avoid the area they nest in for a few weeks till nesting is over.

There are times when we need to be reminded that we share the planet with some beautiful and amazing creatures who also deserve a space to live and survive.

DH