Study finds magpies swoop certain people
A study has revealed what many people always feared – magpies pick on certain people.
If you’ve ever felt you get swooped more than most, chances are there’s a reason behind it.
Darryl Jones, behavioural ecologist at Griffith University, told Tom Elliott research had found magpies went after certain people with certain characteristics.
‘It’s absolutely clear, magpies really do distinguish between people and they know individuals,’ he explained on 3AW Drive.
‘They can recognise people and only those people are the people getting attacked.’
Think you can trick them into thinking you’re somebody else? Guess again.
‘You can put disguises on people – we got them to dress in completely different ways – they still recognised the individual,’ Mr Jones said.
LISTEN: Darryl Jones explains more about magpies on 3AW Drive