American cyclist: gets barked at by one or two dogs stuck behind a fence Australian cyclist: gets attacked by intelligent birds with razor sharp beaks and talons

You're not Australian untill you've crashed your bicycle full speed whilst screaming and waving at a murderous magpie 🤣

I thought people exaggerated when they called magpies "terrorists birds." Wow they are so aggressive! There were birds in North America that swooped at me by the beach that one time, but they were empty treats. They never actually touched me. Magpies actually make physical contact which is so much scarier.

American living in Australia at the moment. Had my first swoop sesh the other day. It didn't touch me but definitely was determined to chase me away. Next day he saw me coming from 200 meters away and went in on me again. I just decided the third day to go a different way and leave him to his bird business.

As both a cyclist and an ex-postie (a favourite of the swooping magpie) I’ve found that if the sun is behind you, the growing shadow as the bird descends gives some warning and simply standing up can throw them off a little.

Here are some fun facts about Magpies: 1. Magpies are territorial and like to live in the same area for their whole lives. 2. The Australian magpie is native to Australia and New Guinea. 3. Magpies are known for their beautiful, musical warbling. 4. A magpie's hearing is so good they can hear worms and bugs moving underground.

My parents have a couple of magpies that believe the back and front yard is their 'territory', each season they bring their fledglings down. They are so tame! I'm never ceased to be amazed at their facial recognition - I only get to visit my parents 2-3 times a year, but Mr and Mrs recognise me. Never have my parents or I been swooped as I think they see us as 'friends'. I'm certainly no avian expert, but I believe they feel comfortable around us as we've never been threatening/intimidating, so they love to come and stab for worms and other insects in the lawns and garden beds, and there is no dog or cat to harass them and their juniors. Beautiful, intelligent birds!

Magnificent creatures! Get to know your local Magpie. They will not swoop you if they know you should be there, even in breeding season. They remember faces. I've had the same pair for the last 15 years and not once been swooped. They bring there young to show off

At least now I know where Hitchcock's inspiration came from👍Spring road cycling in Australia 🇦🇺

Practically everyone who lives in Australia: *getting attacked by almost anything that breathes* Me: the f*ck going on over there?

Tried the hand on helmet technique last Saturday. It deterred the strike but not the swoop. Also had to slow down to keep the bike under control.

Can confirm nesting season is alive and well. Been swooped 2 of my last 3 rides near nesting birds. The odd one out was heading north bound up a particular road about two weeks ago, came back south bound a few days ago and copped a swooping. My strategy for dealing with then is the Jeff Gouldblum type of reaction "Must go faster"

I usually turn my head very quickly and open my mouth as wide as I can whilst yelling at the top of my lungs "Get in my belly"! Works like a charm! 😉

Love ya work Share. Pairing up is big up here this year.

Beautiful birds. I grew up with 1 in our huge gum tree. We called her Maggie. She would come down to our back door and do the magic Magpie screech. And i would go out and give her Mince, eventually i could feed her with my hands, she trusted me completely. I also saw her swoop neighbours, she never swooped me. I loved her

Great video. They are wonderful birds for most of the year, they can be terrifying when you're under aerial bombardment in spring.

Thank you for the great video Shane, it was very well shot and presented perfectly 👌 a Magpie tried swooping at me multiple times over the past 3 days each time when arriving to work (as soon as I stepped out from my car and simply walking to the front door less than 50mtrs away). The warehouse is located on the corner of a fairly busy road and there isn't much trees around, been here for 3 years+ and this year was the first time it began happening. 1st day I let it go, thinking it was really random.. 2nd day I got a lil upset as I was doing samurai ninjas backflips to avoid the swift dives from our lil friend (more like stacking it backwards and rolling around on the road like a scared idiot lol) 3rd day, as I pulled up to work.. I checked my surroundings looked up, down, left, right.. stepped outside my car with a coffee in one hand and did another check.. no sign of the magpie.. sweeett.... out of no where, comes swooping down... yet again taking dives at me, spilt a bit of my coffee and felt as if things are starting to get personal!! 😡 Fk me dead, wtf is wrong with you?! I quickly made my way inside the building as mr.magpie sat on top of the street light looking cool.. i looked at it, it looked at me.. stuck up my magic finger🖕 and said out loud "f@#k you C#@t!" Can't get me now that I'm inside (feeling invincible) for the next 5/10 minutes contemplating ways to attack it also pre-feelings of guilt if I had purposely killed it... its not in my nature to be attacking birds but this was beginning to get personal lol!! Today is day 4) i youtubed and this was the first trending video.... I'm now getting ready to go to work, hoping not to meet the scary Mofo BUT, if I do I will attempt and try to do that rooster hand thing that Shane's shared on this video. 🖐🐔 Thanks for reading this far, this is my shared experience. Wish me luck fam! SEPT 2020 MELBOURNE 🤗

Shane, I now wear my castelli peak cap on backwards under my helmet this hangs down a bit and helps protect neck area, works for me, been getting hammered lately in Gisborne.

Excellent footage.

Shane, you're a legend. Love your simple and engaging videos!

Shane I have been smacked by a number of Maggies this season. Buy I used tip number 6 and the birds still swooped but did not make contact at all. Thanks for the great tips and keep the videos coming. They are great. Recently I bought the Garmin RLT 510 after your review and I live it. Cheers.

Great shots of the swoop action. They certainly don't pay any attention to the metre matters campaign lol!

Stunning creatures to watch in flight. They're also larger than the video might fool you into being. On my motorbike you'd see them cruising in my right rearview mirror every morning on the way to one job I had. My helmet actually had divots from the beak impacts just in a single spawning season. So for push biking kids out there, even if they're just going for a bit of a pleasure ride in the backyard, always remind your kids to wear their helmet because it's not just falls out there that'll get you.

Nice footage 👍

Great video! Especially tip number 1, haha, let someone else take the hit :) I'll never forget when we visited Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland for the Ironman World Championships and I encountered my first magpie attack out on a training ride. Couldn't believe how bold and aggressive it was! I used to keep eagles and hawks, and also European magpies but nothing compares to your Aussie 'pies! Intense little buggers! Vicious! I must say we thought you blokes were trying to set up some kind of extra-terrestrial frequency receptor headgear when we saw the locals riding around with big zip ties sticking out of their helmets :)

Nice job! I once was hit by a Cooper's Hawk in the northeast USA similarly!

Ha ha ha... Those were the days... Memories of semi rural Australia and cricket training early in the season. I found a pair of sunglasses on the back/top of my head worked... Along with running super, super fast away from the tree/grass interface :)

Garmin varia magpie patch required.

Excellent images there Gplama.

Awesome stuff Shane!

Love a magpie attack, great motivation for an impromptu sprint effort!

Fun video! There's lots of maggie's in West Gippsland (Victoria) and I find if I extend one arm vertically above my head and shake my hand around they stop hitting my helmet and stay away.

Good tips thanks

great footage

In North America we have Red Wing blackbirds: I have been attacked by them many times over the years. Back when I didn't wear a helmet they used to fly into my hair but more recently they scratch their talons on top and on the sides of my helmet.. I was attacked 5 different times one one ride this summer.

I have a massive park that I ride alongside to get to and from work every day. It may seem stupid, but, I take time out to lay my bike down and just sit on the side walk about half way through my ride. I offer them food and let them get to know my face and bike. Haven’t been troubled since and I’ve been doing it for about four years 🥰 They are truly lovely and intelligent animals. Make sure that before breeding season, you allow time to get to know them.

I got attacked by like 6 different magpies today on my bike so I will definitely use these tips

This is gold.

One of the locally well known airport magpies in Auckland managed to draw blood last season. My only tip there is to find another route for a couple of months. When is the Wahoo Maggie due for release?

frigen epic shots though!

Confusingly, these magpies are only very distantly related to European magpies. They aren't even corvidae. They get the same name because the first European settlers in Australia took one look at them and decided "those black and white birds look a bit like magpies, so we'll call them magpies." They're still pretty smart for non-covids though. It's the same story with the American Robin. Settlers were not really concerned with taxonomic consistency.

Great video.. My friend got pecked in the eyeball one time - it bled a lot and she had to wear a patch for a bit - but fortunately she didn’t loose sight but has a little scar on her eyeball. Dem guys are serious. 😂 They stop when you’re out of their territory. I’d do the hand thing intuitively but I didn’t know it worked.. just thought I was lucky. I also have glasses.

Good tips. Ever heard of tossing them some mince? I haven't tried it but read it recently. Got swooped out and back today.

5 hit combo...nice

Thank you so much for the tips but what about shiny things

Excellent and helpful video. We have these birds in NZ as well. I've never had an attack, so far, and they roost near my home. I think they know I will not hurt them nor attack them. I'm nearly always just walking at the time, even under the trees where they roost. I've learned to chortle like them (and I can mimic other birds sounds too). They have taken interest in my chortling and have come in closer to check me out, and then they fly back again, without any kind of threat to me. Maybe it helps to chortle to them even while looking at them, as I do ?? It may not be the same for everyone and maybe the ones in Australia are more aggressive; I just don't know. So be careful and be prepared protect yourself, just in case your experiences are not the same as mine. They do swoop and attack the hawks including the Australasian Harrier hawk in NZ. They are vicious to the hawks and they hawks usually fly away to avoid them. I've not ever seen them attacking cyclists here, but you will have to research for exceptions if they exist. Some farmers do shoot them, as they are not native to NZ and some farmers do not like their aggression to other birds, including possibly native birds (?), but I find that the birds generally sort their territorial differences out with the Australian Magpies, without noticeable carnage.

Best plan is to feed mince to the magpie family in that area. They DO recognize individuals. No good if you must traverse multiple nest-sites of course.

We dont have owt like that in Britain but there are some parts where the gulls can leave a nasty injury during nesting season and especially when the chicks have hatched.

I’ve had a magpie visit me at my workplace almost everyday for snacks. I now hand feed them anything that is nutritious for them only. Now I get visited by their young almost every day. They peck their beak at the door and sing until I come out to them. I love how they even visit when they’re not hungry just to hang near me when I’m sweeping and clearing outside. They recognise my voice now. I know this because when I spot it out from far, I yell out “come here darling!” In a high pitched voice and she comes flying and walks the last few meters all the way right up to me with no fear because of the relationship we’ve developed. The younger one is still a little hesitant for hand feed, but will get there. My favourite bird. Regardless if I’d been swooped in past by magpies I hadn’t met. I just turn and face them directly ALWAYS when swooping happens to scare them off. Magpies only coward attack from behind, just show your face and they’re GONE instantly. It Works every time.

This brief was elevated only by the helmet on the magpie. Thank you

Today, in just 2.2 km I've been attacked by three magpies, the first one swooped 3 times the second 2 and the third behind my back and scratched my face. Now, this is the first time that happened to me in 3 years I live in Aus, I'm still shocked about how scary that was, I had to turn around and go back home.

Nice shots - the only wildlife we have to worry about in Scotland is sheep or cows sleeping in the road. Not the first time I have come rounnd a corner early in the morning and found some farm animals sleeping in the road.

Wear a cap backwards under your helmet and put some of those fake eyes on the bill of your cap.

I’m from the U.K. and I found out in a previous video magpies in the U.K. are related to crows and are not related in anyway to Aussie magpies. I have two magpies living in my neighbours conifer tree, that overhangs over my garden fence. And I see two of them regularly pecking at my grass, presuming, they are looking for worms and slugs to eat. But they never have swopped down on me, when I’m out in my garden, lol. Lovely birds, but I wouldn’t like being pecked at, like you was.

Good tips (especially group rides), though the easiest option - stick to the wahoo for sept-october. A lot of the roads around my place have non-existent shoulders and 80k/hr speeds (I live in the sticks), so it's just too dangerous for me to battle magpies when doing solo rides.

Magpies are smart and we are obviously stupid because we keep coming into their territory. Which, by the way, they establish because their offspring will leave the nest before they can fly, leaving them vulnerable wandering around on the ground for a week or two. The parents hang around nearby to protect them during this time but they start clearing threats out from the start of the season. I've had one in one of my yards for a week now and there's no problem because the parents know me and my dogs and were probably raised here themselves. I just keep the dogs in the next yard fenced off from the young magpie. Total respect for the magpies around here. They're more than welcome.

Terns do the same over here in Europe during mating season

thanks bro i got swooped about 50 times today but i was luckily wearing a helmet

True about the coexisting... last time Australia went to war with a bird it didn't go down too well

"Swooping season" is a hillarious name. it just sounds so Australian

Thank goodness I don't have to deal with that. I wonder if those stick-on helmet mohawks that some motorcyclists use would scare them off. It wouldn't do much for your drag coefficient though.

Love the rooster hand 🤚 Shane. I’m trying that one tomorrow, will report back.

I haven't lived in Australia for over ten years. I still flinch when a bird swoops close to my head and I ride around a bend on a mtb trail to see a snake lying across it. No magpie attacks in the UK but I have seen one snake.

Shane, there are two types of attacks, one highly dangerous & other not so. Those that swoop from rear & either just scratch at back of helmet or actually never closer than a foot above your head, not so dangerous. Those that aim at side of head, eye or ear, very dangerous especially those come in in from the side rather than rear. I try to avoid these completely if I can. There's a black & white helmet & glasses on CyclingTips Reno coverage. Smith-Optics-7 that I think could be a great protection strategy. 8-)

In Sweden seagulls will attack you in populated areas in the spring. I was walking across a small parking space between buildings when I got attacked.

I live near Newacastle in Middlesbrough, northern England and agree that those magpies do not play fair.

You mentioned if you look at them they won’t attack! I watched a doco once about the Indian tiger and the locals wore masks on the back of their head so the tiger wouldn’t attack from behind. Just a hunch but I wonder would it work??

Same attacks in New Zealand 🤣

Old man was recently hospitalized after an attack, got him good in the eyes. Expect some traffic, I saw the story, im from USA, and have never heard of these birds, though they are beautiful.

Could you paint a pair of eyes on the back of your helmet? Or maybe use zip ties stuck upwards to resemble the flapping fingers?

Could you put your glasses on backwards, as the Maggpies tend to attack mostly from the back.

Dangerous when riding , those Aussie mags 😑, FTM , great action shots I must invest in a Go Pro , I will wait until you revive hero7 👍, safe riding all you Aussie's

Interesting to see your experiences with your local maggies. I remember seeing a video of a study done by researchers at ANU where they did not get swooped when they took their helmet off. I wonder if you could test using a cheap wig covering your helmet. Are you planning to give any update on the Borson Bike bag? Last thing I saw was the bag being checked in... When are they selling it in Aus?

Great stop-motion action! Where else might you get such pictures? Why not just paint a face on the back? hehe

always be nice to the Magpies in your street they have good memories. I have never been attacked in my street. the Magpies are always in my yard. I did get hit five times by a Magpie at Wellington point , I did the loop around the point then got attacked at a slow point, where turn left onto the incoming road and the is a steep climb directly after.

I got swooped today but just to add on to that I scared of birds but I still love riding my bike

I’m terrified of the freaks

I nearly got attacked today while running outside. I saw a black shadow on the ground came closer and closer again and again. He landed then I looked at him, then I quickly run away.... Blessed..😂

Hahaha Ill try and get a video of my 2 Staffies vs Maggies next swooping season its epic :-)

How about *eye-spot camouflage eyes* on the back of the helmet so birds think they are being watched and will not attack? Maybe attach sunglass to the back of the helmet?

They only seem to swoop me when I'm on my bike. If I walk past the exact same place they leave me alone. I get a feeling they really hate bikes lol. When it happens I usually hear the swooping wings behind my head in advance and I just lower myself down on the bike so if they hit me, they only hit the helmet part of my head.

What about a couple of cable ties or a pair of plastic eyes on the back of the helmet ?

Moved to norway 7 years ago. Don’t missed the magpie attacks...miss the sun though 🤨

I've found( unfortunately) reasonably busy roads are the best deterrent . I live in a rural area in NZ so on any ride I can have a few magpie territories to ride through so I don't get many busy roads dammit... Pine trees/ macrocarpas are the worst areas. They only give up when you leave their territory.

What about a pair of sunnies on the back of your helmet?..

Just got hit 4 times in New Zealand on my helmet today. Tried to get away as quickly as possible but had done 70km and was riding up an incline so didn't get out of nesting territory quickly enough. Didn't help myself by raising my voice as I was freaked out, apparently not a good idea to raise your voice. They don't like the colour yellow is that true?

I'm Belgian and was cycling in Melbourne last weekend and I had no idea what happened when a magpie attacked my helmet. Luckily I wasn't hurt, but I wish I'd seen this video earlier.

Dangerous! Perhaps also try drawing eyes on the back of the helmet (with an erasable magic marker), gluing some large Googley eyes from a dollar store on the back, or strapping a blank white mask to the back (may throw off some drivers too!). As you mentioned, animals are highly aware of eye contact, most will only attack from behind but can be confused with fake eyes (related: I've heard some tree fallers working deep in the woods draw eyes on the back of their hardhats to deter cougars, seems to have worked for them so far).

I was waiting for the following tip: Ride Zwift! Indoors... Funny, I thought magpie’s where large bugs that the Aussie’s complained about, this is another level!!

Coming soon to Titans Grove

So today I was attacked by several magpies. At one point I couldn't ride anymore. I got off the bike and threw few small branches at it. It didn't go far away. I waited for few minutes not knowing what to do. Then a couple of boys came riding on the trail with no helmets. I thought the magpie will go and chase them but it did not. I thought maybe the helmet is the reason. So I rode without a helmet and the bird didn't chase me. Do they have something against the helmet? or do they avoid people in groups? Any ideas?

Magpies are just magnificent birds, but like everyone, I’ve been attacked by them in the nesting season. We have a few that live locally, and they are incredibly curious and will come within a metre of you when gardening. We have never done anything aggressive towards the locals and they have never swooped us. It is said that they have good memories and can recognise people/animals that have threatened them and will attack them for a number of seasons. The problem is that when you are out on the road, they don’t know you, and don’t know if you’re a friend or a threat..

Best advice is to keep composed, the attack(s) may continue for a couple of hundred metres. Don't deviate on the bike - just get out of the area as soon as you can.

None of these things work for me, but there’s a good reason. I decided to change my path to the quicker way as I was riding to school. I had forgotten it was a very well know area for swooping and I got swooped by over 3 magpies at the same time. No one was there either because it was 8:00 in the morning. Th only person there was the lollipop lady who had to film me it was that bad, she filmed me to send it to the local council to show the danger of magpies especially right next to a school

Great video, Shane, those birds mean business when you ride on their turf. And I would happily opt for more time on the trainer when they are guarding their nests. And as for me, I ride at night--commute home--through some wooded stretches with lots of wild animals and that can be pretty spooky, so I sorta sing and make noise and just let 'em know that I am a friendly cyclist in a yellow vest, not a hunter. But I heard on the news this morning that bear sightings are up in a little town through which I ride. So I'll keep whistling in the dark. And I know what you mean about cars. I call 'em car buddies because they light up the road and make noise at night. And when I can, if the timing is right, I pretty much draft a car buddy through a particularly hairy stretch. And I am not pleased with my car buddies when they don't show up and leave me out there all by myself, not a car buddy for minutes in either direction. I probably need better car buddies.

I call them the Mafia of birds. I feed them rolled up bread crumbs by gently aiming for them and they fly up to catch them or just watch my hand like I’m playing catch with them. I actually enjoy them coming to my balcony and feeding them. I made a mistake of leaving my balcony door open while in the bathroom with some bread on the table and all I heard was them going off and the sound was a little too loud so I made my way back into the lounge and there were 5 of them in my lounge eating the bread. They know me by now. So when I go walking in the area I notice one of them as he has string around his leg - he saw me on the walkway he was part of a group and they didn’t do anything to me I did greet them so I think they know me by now.

I got swooped walking to school and so I run to get out of the area and once I do, I turn around and it was a Currawong.

I got attacked today at my local park right and theres a huge magpie scratch on the back of me helmet and i thought it was gonna kill me and then when i was riding home bloody they came for me again

How about a plastic owl decoy affixed to your helmet?

I have 4 magpies that visit me every day Pixie ,Freddie and Bertie and (Charlie I’ve known since a baby he’s now 32 years old) they all sit on my lap they just enjoy the company as I do them ,it’s hotting up they are so busy finding food ,I go around looking for worms ,caterpillars etc as mince meat is not good for the bones of the babies as it has low calcium levels so a no no , they enjoy humans if you respect them ,then they will with you ,they have got such a such a bad reputation but understanding them is the key ,make sure your face known to them way before breeding season which is JUNE TO DECEMBER then you will have no problems even riding a bike , but dogs need to be kept on a leash as dogs running in a park even if they know them will trigger them off .So maybe next years season you will be more prepared just make the effort to make friend with your local Magpie family as they stay on that patch (park )for life so enjoy these Wonderful intelligent ++lovely birds ; you won’t regret it ,get to know them Some TRIVA for you : The MALE has a white back. FEMALES have flecks white and brown on their backs .🙋‍♀️🤗