Magpies

Importance of Magpies 

The song of an Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen) is a sound many Australians think about in relation to our bushland. Those morning songs you hear are also known as ‘carolling’ and are used to mark out their territory between each other. Their complex vocalisations are one of the things that make them such an iconic Australian species as well as their intellect, memory and keen sense of hearing. The Magpie uses it’s hearing to find insects and underground grubs. In fact, it is so good that they have an estimated success rate of 96/100 lawn grubs, making them one of the best underground pest controllers for your lawn and garden. Magpie’s are also monogamous lovers and tough parents. A Magpie couple will mate for life in most cases and when it’s time for their chicks to leave the nests they are pushed to join a ‘tribe’ where they too will find themselves a life-long partner.  

As urban areas expand, magpies are more likely to be forced into smaller nesting areas, so it is important to learn to live with our feathered friends and understand their breeding behaviours.  

Swooping Magpies

Between July and November magpies breed and raise their young. Usually, the male from a breeding pair takes on the specific role of defending its eggs and young while they are in the nest and will swoop at a predator or competing magpie if it believes it is a threat to the safety of the chicks. This behaviour lasts for a period of about six weeks. Other native birds such as butcher birds and plovers may also swoop at people.  

Swooping Bird Map

Our Interactive Swooping Bird Map above provides information about known territorial birds nesting in our region for the safety of the public. This tool was developed to minimise the risk of bird swooping incidents in our region. By clicking on bird pins, you can see the location of the nest and other relevant information. This map is a map of incidents for the Isaac Region over the previous 3 years. Please zoom (with your mouse and the zoom bottom right of the map) in on your town to see more detailed positions of incidents recently reported.

Tips for Swooping Season

As per all Australian native animals, Magpie’s are protected under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and is an offence to harm a magpie or interfere with its nesting behaviours. Magpies are a very common Australian bird and are found in most backyards, schools, parks and bushland. It is best to try to live in shared environment with our black and white pest controllers and avoid getting an injury.  

To help lower aggressive behaviour during swooping season, follow some of these easy steps:

• Don’t feed magpies or magpie chicks: this will only make them more aggressive 
• Wear a wide brimmed hat to protect your head and eyes when walking past magpie nests 
• If an aggressive magpie is near your house of workplace wave sticks or umbrella’s when swooped 
• Avoid defence zones! Look for council signs and keep clear of magpie “defence areas” 
• If you must walk through a “defence area” walk in groups as they are less likely to attack 
• Wear zip ties on your helmet when riding a bike. If they continue to swoop get off the bike and walk 
• Don’t act aggressive back towards magpies as that will only increase their behaviour 
• Don’t approach fledglings if they have fallen out of the nest. If needed, wait till dark to put the chick back 

This advice can also be used to minimise aggressiveness from other birds such as crows, ravens, butcher birds and noisy miner birds. To find out how to stay safe from swooping magpies please visit Australian magpies webpage at Department of Environment and Science.

Report Swooping Magpies

Please report swooping Magpies to our Customer Service team so that we can continue to provide more information to our community. Please provide as much information as possible on the incident. 

Contact us on the following methods; 
Phone: 1300 ISAACS (1300 472 227) 
Email: Records@isaac.qld.gov.au
or visit your nearest Council office

Resources

• Responsible Wildlife Interaction Guidelines(PDF, 2MB)