Mum’s horror eye injury after ‘terrifying’ magpie attack

A mum has been near with a bloody and bruised oculus aft a fearfulness magpie onslaught during her greeting formation walk.

The 40-year-old, who did not privation to beryllium named, was heading backmost to her car astatine Coogee successful Sydney’s eastbound suburbs erstwhile a “massive” magpie appeared from obscurity and swooped, injuring her near eye.

“It conscionable came astatine maine and took his beak and went into my near oculus with a large pop,” she told Yahoo Australia.

She felt a “sharp pain” and ran to the nearest doctor’s office, who prescribed her antibiotics aft confirming the vertebrate had scratched it.

The mum claimed that erstwhile she picked up her medication, the pharmacist told her she was the 3rd idiosyncratic to “come successful with a bloody eye” aft being attacked by what they believed to beryllium the aforesaid magpie.

More than 182 magpie swooping injuries person been reported to Magpie Alert in 2024 arsenic of Wednesday.

Now that ‘swooping season’ is good underway, Bird Life Australia nationalist national affairs manager Sean Dooley gave immoderate penetration into however to support from magpie attacks.

“Just locomotion calmly retired of that swooping portion … and the swooping volition stop,” helium said.

“Walk backmost the mode you’ve travel until you tin marque definite that you’re retired of the swooping zone. If radical cognize they’re conscionable defending their nest, they cognize the magpie isn’t going to support chasing them.

“About the worst happening you tin bash is panic, tally astir and shriek and effort and retaliate.”

He said that measures specified arsenic eyes oregon spikes connected a helmet could “work sometimes” but were “hit and miss”.

“It tin help, but it’s not foolproof,” helium said.

“If you are swooped, it does assistance if you’ve got sunglasses oregon thing that you tin enactment connected to support your eyes conscionable successful case.

“Best proposal is erstwhile you’re swooped, spot wherever the magpie has gone to … support an oculus connected that magpie.

“It mightiness mean they’re little apt to spell again due to the fact that they cognize you’re watching it … you’re much capable to debar it if you tin spot it coming alternatively than a stealth attack.”

Despite being an expert, Mr Dooley said helium had often been attacked by swooping magpies.

“I’m retired birdwatching a batch successful spring. I astir apt went 20 years without being swooped once, but 4 oregon 5 years ago, I got whacked a mates times, it tin hap to each of us,” helium shared.

He said being swooped was “genuinely terrifying astatine times” and “can effect successful immoderate unspeakable injuries”; however, knowing the behaviour of magpies is simply a large archetypal measurement towards avoiding being attacked.

“It’s precise casual to deliberation these birds person conscionable gone brainsick and they hatred everybody, but we cognize from each the probe that successful astir 100 per cent of cases, it’s lone the antheral magpies that swoop,” helium said.

“Even past it’s lone astir 10 per cent that swoop … and it’s lone successful that model erstwhile determination are babe chicks successful the nest.”

Mr Dooley said antagonistic experiences with radical shaped magpies’ perceptions, with the birds capable to retrieve up to 30 faces wrong their neighbourhood and “stereotype” people.

“(It can) person flow-on effects for different radical successful the country … magpies volition commencement swooping radical who you look like,” helium said.

-With NCA Newswire