9 September, 2008 8:24AM AEDT


It's that time of year once again when people start to think Alfred Hitchcock might've been onto something in The Birds...

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Most people have probably had that early spring experience of hearing a crack just overhead or getting a fairly nasty jab from a Magpie intent on chasing you away from wherever it might live. They're masters of surprise, and for some people the experience can be quite frightening. Far from being some evil premeditated plan to feast on your eyeballs or make off with some ear cartilage, it's really just the birds' way of protecting their nests and, more importantly, their young.

Jim O'Brien is a Wildlife Officer with the Department of Sustainability and Environment, and says the best way to deal with the problem is just to avoid the area during the swooping season. Of course that's not always possible - especially if an agressive bird has built a home right next to your own back door. There are a couple of tactics for dealing with these sorts of extreme cases - relocating the actual nest is virtually impossible, but the DSE have experimented with relocating individual birds. It's not a practical solution though as the relocation has to be at least 150k's away, and no work has been done to follow up how relocated birds adapt.

Who the birds choose to attack can also be a bit of a mystery - Jim has watched birds in certain areas who've picked out one person to attack - often it'll be someone on a bike, but they can also take a dislike to certain colours or individuals. We're also not sure why they tend to go for the head, but the DSE's eye stickers are a good deterrant - in many cases if a bird thinks you're watching it, it won't swoop. The stickers are pretty scary so it's no surprise that a bird might also find them offputting. Usually it's the male who does the swooping which may explain why the stickers feature a pair of female eyes!

The official breeding (and swooping) season usually starts around August / September each year, and runs for a couple of months, although drought conditions have extended the season in both directions. Last season the DSE took around 650 calls about agressive birds... In many cases, the problem can be solved by avoiding the area, but there are certainly rare cases where a bird is located somewhere which can make daily life very difficult.

As a last resort a bird can be put down, but that sort of action rarely happens. Magpies are protected under the Wildlife Act 1975, so it's an offence to take matters into your own hands and harass or destroy a bird or their eggs. Penalties for damaging birds include fines up to $5,000 or six months in prison. If you really can't avoid a bird and it's being particularly agressive, the DSE's your best bet.

Or, try the eye stickers... They're genuinely scary...