Mad As A Magpie

Alfred Hitchcock must have spent time in Australia in the Spring, October - November in the Southern Hemisphere, prior to creating his now classic movie 'The Birds'. There is a handsome bird in Australia called the Magpie. The name is not a fitting tribute to how handsome this bird is. I say handsome because pretty isn't the right adjective. This bird is fairly large as compared to Boston indigenous birds. It is the size of a large crow back in Boston. Some get even larger. They have a sleek body similar to the crow but their coloring is a bright white and black. They also have a nice flute like sound that they emit. Now this all sounds like a nice bird right? It is.... unless its Spring time! This is when the Magpies mate, lay their eggs, and care for their chicks. There is nothing like a Magpie guarding its nest and chicks.

I was forewarned by my co-workers and friends I have met not to get too attached to this bird because come Spring time they will attack you if you come within a distance they deem is too close for comfort. I think that I have been crapped on by a bird no more than once in my life and that is one time too many. But that is just bad luck, good luck for the person beside you, but bad luck for you. Since I have been down here I have been swept at by a bird three times. Same location, same bird, same time of day. After the first time I was determined not to change the course I walked to get to the train in the morning. After all, I am a human, the creme de la creme of the animal world. I am smarter, stronger, and more savvy than a mere bird... or so I thought.

The following morning after my first attack I got ready for work, put on my MP3 player, set on some music to get me going and headed off. At about minute 3 of my walk, out of no where, with my music on low came a swishing sound off my left ear, a brush of air from a flying object coming within an inch of my head, and a shadow flying by me faster than a blink of an eye. By the time I gathered my thoughts I saw the culprit. It was a Magpie gliding up to a branch in a graceful swoop as though just dropping off a laser guided bomb and after finishing its sortie was heading back to home base. After checking for any bird waste on me, which is not the Magpies intent, I could only look at this bird now perched on a branch staring me down and say to myself 'Magpie 2; Ernie 0'. I realized that although I was the bigger and I thought the smarter of the two this Magpie has something humans can only dream of: the gift of flight. Being able to fly up on someone from any angle, at alarming speeds in full control, silent, and then at the very last second change your direction to fly within an inch of your target is amazing! Now as I mentioned I only thought I was the smarter of the two.... this same scenario acted itself out one more time me being totally oblivious to the two previous days events. After the 3rd time I had determined that it was easier for me to change my route and let others feel the wrath of this Magpie than it was to deal with it head on.

I was told by coworkers that this Magpie is nice. Some of them don't change direction and fly full speed into your head beak first or claws first. Most people get wounds after a magpie attack! Sometimes I can only shake my head at this country. Here I am in a major city walking down a busy street and I am getting attacked by birds!

After doing some research I found some interesting facts. Here is the link to the page about magpie attacks.... Magpie facts