Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

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Mububban
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Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby Mububban » Thu Sep 03, 2015 10:29 am

Don't throw sticks at magpies kids, they'll remember it for 20 years!

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/busin ... udy-finds/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Magpies hold grudges and will swoop the same people time and time again, a new study has found.

With spring already here, cyclists are being warned to watch out for swooping magpies with the Griffith University finding they do not pick their prey at random.

It was often thought magpies swooped out of territorialism, but Professor Darryl Jones said magpies swoop when they feel their young have been threatened and know whom they are going after.

Prof Jones said magpies tend to go after fast-moving objects like cyclists and motorbike posties and will continue to go after those people throughout their lives.
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wellington_street
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby wellington_street » Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:19 am

Moral of the story is if you are going to defend yourself against the magpies, you have to kill them or they will come back and get you.

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gorilla monsoon
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby gorilla monsoon » Thu Sep 03, 2015 12:12 pm

Yes indeed. The damned hide of these animals, wanting to protect their young. I've never heard of anything more ridiculous!
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wellington_street
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby wellington_street » Thu Sep 03, 2015 12:38 pm

gorilla monsoon wrote:Yes indeed. The damned hide of these animals, wanting to protect their young. I've never heard of anything more ridiculous!
If I violently attacked random people walking along the street in front of my house, in the name of protecting my young or not, I'd be rightly disliked and most likely hauled off to jail.

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redsonic
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby redsonic » Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:16 pm

wellington_street wrote:
gorilla monsoon wrote:Yes indeed. The damned hide of these animals, wanting to protect their young. I've never heard of anything more ridiculous!
If I violently attacked random people walking along the street in front of my house, in the name of protecting my young or not, I'd be rightly disliked and most likely hauled off to jail.
I don't think the magpies have the cognitive wherewithal to assess the moral and social implications of their defensiveness. :wink:

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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby wellington_street » Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:55 pm

Of course not. If it were a dog doing it, it would be disliked, the owner fined and the dog probably put down.

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redsonic
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby redsonic » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:44 pm

wellington_street wrote:Of course not. If it were a dog doing it, it would be disliked, the owner fined and the dog probably put down.
That may be, but remember that magpies were here long before cyclists, dogs and people. Our urban sprawl has moved into their territory, not the other way around. I think a bit of goodwill and tolerance for a few months each Spring is not too much to ask.

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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby wellington_street » Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:50 pm

I dont think 'they were here first' is at all relevant.

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redsonic
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby redsonic » Fri Sep 04, 2015 8:15 am

wellington_street wrote:I dont think 'they were here first' is at all relevant.
Well, we do treat native wildlife differently to introduced animals. Feral pigeons don't have the same protections as magpies do.

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Ross
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby Ross » Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:39 am

"They distinguish between different people," Prof Jones told 7 News.

"They know who they are and if they decide they're going to have a go for those people, they're the people every time."

Prof Jones said magpies tend to go after fast-moving objects like cyclists and motorbike posties and will continue to go after those people throughout their lives.
So presumably they mean the same groups/types of people (ie cyclists) rather than actual specific individuals. Otherwise how do you explain getting swooped when you have never ridden in that area before?

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gorilla monsoon
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby gorilla monsoon » Mon Sep 07, 2015 12:37 pm

wellington_street wrote:
gorilla monsoon wrote:Yes indeed. The damned hide of these animals, wanting to protect their young. I've never heard of anything more ridiculous!
If I violently attacked random people walking along the street in front of my house, in the name of protecting my young or not, I'd be rightly disliked and most likely hauled off to jail.
A very Australian attitude: "why shoud we have to deal with something that affects us adversely? Why not just kill it? Problem solved."
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby find_bruce » Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:36 pm

Ross wrote:
"They distinguish between different people," Prof Jones told 7 News.

"They know who they are and if they decide they're going to have a go for those people, they're the people every time."

Prof Jones said magpies tend to go after fast-moving objects like cyclists and motorbike posties and will continue to go after those people throughout their lives.
So presumably they mean the same groups/types of people (ie cyclists) rather than actual specific individuals. Otherwise how do you explain getting swooped when you have never ridden in that area before?
With respect Ross I think you have missed the point - once you have been picked as a target by a magpie, you will be swooped every time. Not all cyclists are swooped & it is not clear why some are selected and others not.

I am one of the lucky ones and am rarely swooped - to the best of my recollection it has happened just twice in 40+ years. I am neither complaining nor boasting & I don't know why I avoid it, but I am grateful.

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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby Dreams V Reallity » Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:42 pm

They can/do recognise individual.
12 yr ago, when I was GA (hanyman, mr fixit, groundsman, slave) in a school, I attempted to stop the maggies attacking an owl. From that day on, I had to keep an 'eye on the sky', and watch for fast moving shadows. The GA at the neighbor school, didn't get the attention. We both wore work clothes, and broad brimmed hats.
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gorilla monsoon
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby gorilla monsoon » Mon Sep 07, 2015 5:18 pm

Magpie juju.
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Ross
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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby Ross » Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:13 pm

find_bruce wrote: With respect Ross I think you have missed the point - once you have been picked as a target by a magpie, you will be swooped every time. Not all cyclists are swooped & it is not clear why some are selected and others not.
I don't think I have. To repeat myself, how does a magpie know to specifically swoop me if I am on holiday from interstate and never been in the area before in my life? Does the magpie in say Melbourne get an email from magpie cousin in Canberra saying "watch out for Ross, he is a magpie baby killer and coming to your area soon, he rides a black Specialized Tarmac"?!

My experience is different magpies have different swooping "patterns" ie some are more aggressive than others. Some will just fly in close without contact as a sort of warning, others will make contact but just with your helmet but some are quite vicious/malicious and will attack multiple times and try to peck any exposed flesh/eye/ear.

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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby malnar » Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:42 pm

Dreams V Reallity wrote:They can/do recognise individual.
12 yr ago, when I was GA (hanyman, mr fixit, groundsman, slave) in a school, I attempted to stop the maggies attacking an owl. From that day on, I had to keep an 'eye on the sky', and watch for fast moving shadows. The GA at the neighbor school, didn't get the attention. We both wore work clothes, and broad brimmed hats.
An owl? Wow! Just yesterday I had the thought of putting a picture of an owl on my helmet. Guess I won't bother now.

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Re: Magpies pick their targets and hold a grudge!

Postby malnar » Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:48 pm

My experience is different magpies have different swooping "patterns" ie some are more aggressive than others. Some will just fly in close without contact as a sort of warning, others will make contact but just with your helmet but some are quite vicious/malicious and will attack multiple times and try to peck any exposed flesh/eye/ear.
That's my experience too. In fact within a few km radius of me there's all 3 of these types on the job right now (well resuming at first light) and other cyclists around here have reported the same swooping pattern from these individuals.

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