Roz Beste was attacked by a magpie that sat on her shoulder four times. Photo: Supplied.
Wagga cyclists are still being terrorised by aggressive magpies as spring arrives – after the birds started swooping months earlier than usual.
Local cyclists say they have been attacked since July, with the assaults continuing throughout August and showing no signs of stopping.
Roz Beste, 57, has a 360-degree camera attached to her handlebars and has captured spectacular footage of herself being repeatedly swooped.
“I think of magpie attacks as being a springtime event, but have been swooped since the middle of August, which is quite surprising,” she said.
One particularly aggressive bird near the river landed on Ms Beste’s shoulder four times.
“I felt both its feet,” she said.
“Usually, they just make a lot of noise in your ear then fly off.”
Cyclists Dave Pearce, Phil Davidge and Josef Winkler have all been attacked as early as July.
“I bought a full-face helmet for magpie season, so they can’t get to my face. Some of them hammer into my helmet very hard,” Mr Pearce said.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was attacked in July. Last year they kept going to November, so it’s a long season.
“The worst part is you don’t expect it; they just come out of nowhere and shock you.”
Mr Davidge was first swooped near the levee by the Wagga Cycle Centre in early July and was later attacked near Lake Albert.
“The magpies were very early this year,” he said.
“I’m also using a full-face helmet.”
Ms Beste said she had previously stopped cycling in early spring because of magpies and had resorted to a range of precautions.
“I use bird scaring tape you get from Bunnings. It’s like a silver ribbon; I’m not sure it works,” she said.
She also wears cycling glasses, partly for protection from dust but also because she is worried about the birds targeting her eyes.
“My partner was riding with elderly and disabled people on tricycles, and they were attacked today,” she said.
“Everyone is getting attacked. Even if you try a different route, they find you.”
The unusually early attacks were first reported by Region in July, when Boorooma resident Lachie Johns, 11, said he had become so frightened by a magpie near his home that he had stopped riding to a friend’s house.
“I can’t walk or ride my bike to my friend’s house; I’ll get attacked. It’s terrifying. I get my Dad to drive me,” he said.
At the time, Charles Sturt University Associate Professor of Ecology and Ornithology Melanie Massaro said climate change and warmer winter temperatures were contributing to earlier breeding and longer swooping seasons.
During a cold winter, insects and other food sources are harder to find, making it difficult for birds to raise chicks. But warmer conditions can bring insects and other small animals out earlier, giving magpies the food supply they need to start breeding sooner.
That means their territorial behaviour – including swooping to protect eggs and chicks – can also begin earlier.
What was once a relatively predictable few weeks of spring swooping has stretched from winter into the start of spring, and there could be plenty more attacks to come.
