Cyclist Loses Sight Of The Road Startled By A Swooping Magpie, Dies

Every September and October, Australia witnesses an increasing number of Magpies diving down at full throttle and frightening pedestrians. In a recent incident, a cyclist in Australia on Sunday died after a swooping Magpie startled and led him astray.

A seventy-six-year-old man, who was riding a pushbike on an off-road path close to Nicholson Park at Wollongong, south of Sydney, suffered severe head injuries after veering off the path and crashing into a fence post while trying to avoid a swooping Magpie, stated Wollongong Police.

The man was then airlifted to Sydney’s St. George Hospital and died in the evening, CNN reported. Spring season, which is also the mating season of the Magpies, is alternatively known as Magpies swooping season in Australia for obvious reasons.

According to CNN affiliate Seven News, the season commenced earlier this year following a warm winter.

The territorial birds start breeding in August and swooping is their way to defend their offspring from potential threats. Visitors might notice people walking the streets with large sticks at hand, or bike riders wearing helmets with a dozen zip ties attached to them, both to trick the Magpies. The birds are said to chiefly target the cyclists and pedestrians who venture near their nests.

The dive-bombing Magpies, just over a foot in length, can cause serious harm and even casualties with their abrupt attacks. They use their sharp beaks, which are also pretty strong, to ambush their prey.

Last year, a toddler would have nearly lost his vision after a swooping Magpie attacked his face as he sat in a pram.

There have been 1,570 cases of sweeping registered nationwide, 189 among which resulted in fatal injuries, according to the community-run Magpie alert website. The numbers had notched up higher last season where more than 3,000 swooping recorded.

The maximum number of attacks this year is said to have happened along Australia’s East Coast, in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.

The Sydney council revealed that this month they have shot dead a “particularly aggressive magpie” that had swooped and injured people, including leading a victim to suffer a heart attack, over several years purposely.

It is, however, illegal to kill the Magpies or take their eggs and chicks as they are a protected native species in Australia. Magpie alert warned that major injuries occur when cyclists fall off their bikes during an attack, like the man in Wollongong. Cyclists are advised to get off their bike at the time of an attack and keep their nerve instead of flailing.