At the beginning of spring, we all know to expect swooping magpies.
Whether it's the one magpie who terrorises your street every year or dive-bombs while you're cycling to work, we have almost all been swooped before.
While we mostly have to rely on local knowledge or council-placed signs, one website may be able to tell you where the next magpie will strike.
Magpie Alert is a website designed to track and record attacks Australia-wide, allowing those swooped to map the locations where they were attacked.
Creator of the website, Jon Clarke says that he set up the website after almost falling off his bike following a magpie swooping.
“I set it up back in 2013 when I was out on a bike ride. I got swooped by a magpie and I almost came off at 35km/h," he said.
After getting home, Mr Clarke found there were no websites that tracked magpie swoopings so used his web development skills to build one.
MagpieAlert.com allows people to log on and record where they have experienced a swooping, details about the attack and any injuries suffered.
People can then check the website, find out where attacks have happened and avoid the area.
One such listing is for 74 Kareena Rd, Miranda, outside Southern Cardiology and near Kareena Private Hospital.
On September 12 Sonja N posted: “We have a magpie swooping our patients at our place of business all day. We had 5 people injured today.”
Jo Gibson also posted to warn other walkers of the magpie attack she encountered at 16 Vista Street, Caringbah, on September 4 at 8.50am.
“I was walking through the park and a magpie came swooping down and hit my forehead,” Jo said. “It then continued to swoop as I crossed the road. I was left with two cuts on my head”.
So far this year, the website has recorded 1572 attacks in Australia with 247 injuries as a result of those attacks.
Mr Clarke says some of the injuries have been quite severe.
"We get a lot of people falling off their bikes. Someone sent one in with a photo showing gravel rash from falling off his bike," he said.
"They target ears and cheek but if you're really unlucky, they get the odd eye."
While many people are wary of all magpies, Professor Darryl Jones of Griffith University says that most magpies will leave people alone.
"It's only a tiny fraction. Across the board it's around about 10 per cent of breeding pairs," he said.
He said that magpies only swooped to protect their young during breeding season.
"They swoop almost exclusively because they're males and they're protecting their chicks. It's always just in the immediate vicinity of the nest."
