Living Here
Swooping birds
Noisy crows
Flying-foxes
Snakes
Possums
Itchy Grubs
Turtle nesting
Swooping birds
When some species of native birds have eggs or young in the nest, they can become protective and may swoop people entering their nesting territory. The breeding season for most swooping birds is July to November, peaking between August to October. Native species most commonly known to swoop includes magpies, plovers, crows and butcherbirds. It is a serious offence to harm or interfere with native Australian birds, as they are protected under Nature Conservation Act 1992.
If a bird swoops you DO NOT fight back, throw sticks or stones, or yell at the bird as this will make the magpie more aggressive.
The best way to avoid being swooped is to:
- Avoid the area by finding an alternative route
- Protect yourself by wearing a broad brimmed hat or using an umbrella, or holding your school bag above your head
- Wear glasses to protect your eyes
- Team up with others and walk in a group
- If you are riding your bike, dismount and walk
- Attach a flag on a long pole to your bike
- Report swooping birds to Council.
Council manages swooping birds by providing information, undertaking swooping bird assessments and implementing an appropriate response on Council controlled land (installing warning signs).
Swooping bird hotspot webmap
How to change the map to satellite imagery:
- Click the
button at the top left of the page, under the search bar. This will open the map layers. - Click the check-box/es that say “GladstoneArea2019”, “AgnesArea2018, or “Whole Region 2017” (please note; enabling satellite imagery may take longer to load the map)
How to add a swooping bird point:
- Navigate to the area which you have seen a bird swooping. You may do this by manually clicking and dragging the map, or by entering the address where the bird was seen, into the search bar at the top-left of the page.
- Click the
button at the top left of the page, under the search bar. This will open the map editing tool. - Click the
button within the tool that opens, so that it highlights blue. - Click on the map to drop a point, for where you observed a swooping bird.
- A set of brief questions will pop up as you place a point, including what happened (please include the species of bird that was swooping), and the date and time of day you saw the swooping.
