Don't fear the swooper: How to dodge magpie attacks this spring

The start of spring heralds a lot of welcome changes for Australia - warmer weather, longer evenings, and of course the annual debate about when Christmas treats should arrive in shops.

But those first balmy days also portend a far darker time, when the nation's stocks of googly eyes and pipe cleaners run low in an attempt to outfox an avian menace.

We are of course talking about magpie swooping season, and standing on the precipice of it, here's what you should know about what's coming.

It's not as common as you think

While it's no doubt cold comfort for people who have a territorial magpie on their block, swoopers are actually quite rare.

The Australian Academy of Science says only one in 20 male magpies will swoop to protect their incubating mates, and eight out of ten people in magpie territory will never get swooped.

Even rarer are attacks designed to wound rather than intimidate.

Magpies who swoop from the back wound people much more rarely than those which attack head on, when horrific injuries including eye damage can be inflicted.

But there are ways to mitigate the risk.

Hearts and minds

The Academy suggests, seemingly counter-intuitively, that getting closer to magpies may help. Specifically, befriending them.

Magpies, like their corvid cousin crows, are clever birds and remember faces.

If you are persistently calm and don't respond to swooping with anything that might be perceived as a threat - such as waving your arms, a stick or an umbrella - the magpies will often swiftly learn you don't pose a danger.

If you can spot where the nest is, be sure to move away from it - but not too quickly.

Bad news for cyclists though - magpies are almost certain to react to anything that large and fast-moving as if it's a predator.

If you're not willing to walk your bike through the swooper's territory, then definitely stock up on those googly eyes.

And as an extra note of caution, the South Australian Department of the Environment warns that magpies can remember you as a threat for up to five years.

Lawrence Orel from the National Parks and Wildlife Service told nine.com.au that in many cases, magpies who swooped had often been provoked in previous seasons.

Overall, it's really better to try to make friends.

I have enough friends. Can I just avoid being swooped?

The department says - obviously enough - the easiest way to avoid being swooped is to change your walking route, as magpies will only defend the territory within 50 metres of the nest.

Granted, in a leafy suburb, that might add a few streets to your walk.

Basic prevention tactics include carrying an open umbrella, or wearing sunglasses and a broad-brimmed hat.

It's also safer to travel in groups, as magpies prefer to swoop on lone people.

Mr Orel said it was important to remember that the magpies were only acting on instinct.

He urged parents to make sure their children were "magpie aware" - with resources on the Parks and Wildlife website.

And remember...

It will all be over soon

Magpies tend to swoop for about six weeks as their mate incubates the eggs and while the chicks are very young.

That might seem like a long time to avoid being dive-bombed in your own backyard, but there'll be plenty of sunshine left to enjoy after it's over, usually some time in November.

And if you do encounter an aggressive magpie, make sure you note the spot, as they like to return to the same nesting areas each year.

And you can track what swoopers other people have spotted online at Magpie Alert.