Plants and Animals

swoop! Watch out for swooping birds | Common swooping birds | Why they swoop | Protection and avoidance | Purchasing swoop! material | For more information

Watch out for swooping birds
Swooping birds may be a frightening or even a dangerous experience. Native birds swoop in urban and rural areas, in parks and gardens, along bike tracks and in school yards, or anywhere the birds are nesting. By understanding why native birds swoop and how to avoid them, breeding season may be less stressful for people.

Common swooping birds
Australia is home to an enormous array of unique native birds. Most native birds are highly attractive and their calls are beautiful or distinctive. Watching and listening to them is a pleasurable experience. Many of our native birds share our urban environment, and to live harmoniously with them we need to understand more about their behaviour.

Australian Magpie Australian Magpies are widespread and common in Victoria, especially in suburbs and farmland. They are impressive birds with their distinctive black and white plumage and melodic warbling. Magpies breed from August to October. Their nests are usually made of small branches and twigs, grass and other plant material. Nests made of wire and other non-natural materials have also been found. Magpies are very protective of their young and may swoop on intruders if they feel threatened. .

Magpie-lark Magpie-larks look similar to Australian Magpies, however they are smaller and have more white on their feathers, especially on the belly. They are commonly found in urban parks and gardens. They are sometimes known as Mudlarks or Peewees. Magpie-larks breed from January to December and build a solid bowl for a nest made from mud and plant material. Magpie-lark attacks are less common, though people have been seriously injured by this species. Most attacks are only bluff, however some birds have been known to make contact by either scratching and pecking people's heads or eyes. .

Laughing Kookaburra Australia’s largest Kingfishers, Laughing Kookaburras, are renowned for their distinctive, loud laugh. They are predominantly dark brown on the back and upper wings with patches of pale blue on the wings. Kookaburras live in groups, sometimes in the suburbs if there are suitable tree hollows for nesting. During the breeding season from September to January, Kookaburras attack their reflection in windows. Feeding Kookaburras encourages this behaviour. .

Red Wattlebird Red Wattlebirds have mainly dark grey-brown feathers streaked with white and a large patch of yellow on the belly. They are extremely active, noisy and quarrelsome, with a loud, harsh and varied call. The breeding season extends from July to December and usually only one brood is raised. The nest is a bulky shallow cup of twigs, grass and bark fragments lined with soft material, placed in a tree several metres from the ground. They are very common in urban areas and may swoop and snap their beak if a person passes close to their nests. They are unlikely to make contact and cause injury. .

Grey Butcherbird Grey Butcher birds resemble a grey and white, half-sized magpie. Their flight-feathers are black with a white stripe and they have a white patch between the beak and eyes. Grey Butcher birds have a beautiful, melodic warble and a discordant chortling call. They build a strong cup-like nest made of fine twigs, grass and other plant material and breed from July to January. They live in a wide range of woodlands and open forests and are quite common in some urban parks and gardens. Grey Butcher birds, like Australian Magpies, may swoop if they feel threatened. .

Masked Lapwing Commonly called plovers, Masked Lapwings are long-legged ground birds, with a light brown back and white breast and belly. They are black on the head, side of the neck and flight feathers. Their broad wings have sharp, yellow spurs. They have a yellow ring around the eye and a yellow, fleshy shield on the forehead, which extends down on either side of the beak. Masked Lapwings have a strident and rapid 'Kerk Kerk Kerk Kerk' call and are noisy at dusk, or when alarmed by potential intruders. Masked Lapwings live in wetlands and grassy woodlands, as well as paddocks and playing fields. They nest on the ground or on a flat roof, and may swoop to protect eggs or their young from July to November when breeding. .

Why they swoop
Like most animals, magpies and other swooping birds instinctively protect their territory, particularly during breeding time. They are protecting their nests, eggs or young from potential intruders. Most birds will swoop within 30-50 metres of their nest. Their territory may include your backyard, the park across the road or the local schoolyard. If they perceive you to be a potential threat, they may swoop. The likelihood of an attack is increased if they are teased or feel threatened in any way.

Birds use scare tactics

• Swooping is the most common defence behaviour. The birds’ aim is to threaten or bluff and the intention is only to ward off intruders.
• Beak clacking is part of their defence strategy.
• In a strike attack, a magpie usually swoops, hovers momentarily and then strikes. The fluttering of wings as the bird hovers can be a warning to duck your head to avoid the attack.

• Avoid the swoop area – try walking or riding in a different direction.
• Cyclists should always wear a helmet. It is better to dismount and walk your bike past a swoop area.
• Put up warning signs for others who may not be aware that there are swooping birds in the area.
• Travel in a group. Most birds only swoop individuals.
• Be confident and face a swooping bird; usually they only attack people facing away from them.
• Do not panic and run. It will only encourage a swooping bird to continue its attack.
• Wear a hat in an area where there are swooping birds.
• Magpies appear to be dissuaded from swooping when they are being watched, so try wearing a hat with ‘eyes’ painted on the back of it. Sunglasses worn backwards have a similar effect.
• Holding a stick or umbrella over your head will often cause the bird to keep its distance.

• Do not harass, interfere or throw stones at birds as this only makes them more aggressive and defensive.
• Do not destroy nests as the birds may re-nest and the breeding season extended.
• Do not feed or befriend swooping birds.

Swoop! Order Form (PDF - 241 Kb)

Download the order form and return it to the Information Victoria to place an order.
Information Victoria, 505 Little Collins Street, Melbourne 3000, phone 1300 366 356 (local call cost), fax 03 9603 9920.

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