So now that spring has arrived, is anyone else being divebombed by magpies? It seems that every route I ride has an angry bird waiting for me, ready to unleash their fury on my helmet. Is anyone else having the same problem or should I be paranoid that they're just targeting me...

Magpies vs cyclists is an annual battle in Oz
There are various methods suggested every year to stop or lessen the attacks, - most of which seem to involve making attachments to your helmet which make you look like a complete dick and so the maggies feel sorry for you and leave you alone!!

Huh...magpies???...you wanna be thankful STINGRAYS can't fly!

No you should be paranoid .... they are lying in wait just for you and communicating via magpie telepathy to warn others of your approach.

Swooping magpies are a perennial problem, it is basically the male defending the nesting site. This is entirely natural behaviour and the season lasts from roughly Aug/Sep to around Oct/Nov. As far as deterrents go, I believe some people have had success with attaching large cable ties to their helmets and others swear by tinsel or a small mirror attached to the back of the helmet. As Wilchemy so helpfully pointed out, these make you look rather silly but if they work, it is probably better than a damaged helmet or missing a chunk of skin.

I haven't had any issues with maggies so far this year but I'm on the lookout.

I might put some razor wire on top of my helmet. Barstid Magpies.

I remember having to walk to school with an icecream bucket on my head with eyes painted on the back of it - what a fashion statement! I think it you keep looking at the bird it won't attack. Doesn't help if you're riding though, I've got some nice claw marks in the side of my helmet from the really ANGRY ones.

Oooh...nasty. Could be quite handy if you want to go Robbie McEwan style on somebody in a sprint finish too!

I had a lovely scar on my earlobe for a while, courtesy of a magpie beak. Gives you a hell of a fright when they swoop you in the middle of a group of shops - not a tree in sight!!

Yeah got attacked twice on my ride last saturday... Buggers I wouldnt mind if the attack was with a bit of notice instead of wooshka bang! scare the crap out of you for a sec or so. and after I have just done a hilly 100k I dont have a lot left to sprint away.

Stop ya whinging you lot.....fair dinkum...maggies are bloody awesome as interval training partners!

WWPD - What Would your Postie Do?

They just accelerate away on their woefully underpowered motorbikes.

Oh, since you mentioned that it's finally springtime, I thought I'd point out that last night the mountains got a fine dusting of snow.

Nooooo! Don't torture me! I hate hot weather, and there's is little chance of us making it to Utah for the ski season, so I am really going to be suffering here.

I won't say another word...

You know, I'm starting to go right off you.

Starting?

Ok, I've gone right off you.

Better?

I personally blame Mick Malthouse. He should be sacked. And both Anthony Rocca and Chris Tarrant should be traded. Oh, this is Bike Forums? Sorry.

Does anybody have any good Magpie recipes?

Yeah, the suspense was killing me, not knowing when the hammer would finally fall.

There's a good blackbird pie recipe that could be adapted. First catch your 24 magpies...

Yes, 'tis th season.

The reason why most nasty Maggies are nasty is directly because of negative experiences in the past, which tends to carry on thru the generations (the babies see it and do the same). Sometimes it's someone wearing a red shirt that throws things at them, sometimes it's a bike, a dog, a child, an old person... whatever it is, they are only reacting to the associated negative experience. Some people walk around with a stick, which often attracts their aggresive attentions because they have bad experiences with stoopid agressive stick-waving humans. It's not the magpies, it's US. The magpies at my place eat out of my hand; they don't swoop at ours because they like eating. So do their babies!

There are only really 4 practical approaches to the problem:
1.) avoid them;
2.) stop everyday and leave food in an appropriate place for a couple of weeks;
3.) bang cable ties on yr helm (I ride a large tallbike everyday in Canberra - it works);
4.) paste some eyes on the back of yr helmet. They have to look realistic (ie. proportionally. Doesn't have to in technocolour or anything!); when you look at a Maggie (or if they think you are looking at them), they won't swoop. That's where the other set of eyes comes in handy, as the other adult Maggie will normally come from behind. The trick is getting the eyes to look like eyes.

Expat, you're an evil bastid.