Magpie swooping videos, by Steph Skinner. Photo: Screenshot.
Canberra cyclist Steph Skinner has risked her ears, eyes and dignity in the name of science – specifically, figuring out how to stop magpies from swooping.
In recent weeks, she’s been trialling different deterrents while riding and sharing the results with her 10,000-plus Instagram followers. The verdict? There is an effective way to stop swoops – if you’re willing to wear it.
Outside her day job as a public servant, Skinner’s passion is “gravel riding”.
“It’s become really popular in the last few years, and Canberra’s such a good place for it because there are so many nature reserves to ride through,” she says.
Steph Skinner is an avid ‘gravel rider’. Photo: Instagram.
She only picked up cycling in 2019, while living in a share house in O’Connor and wanting to avoid parking fees in the city.
“From there it just spiralled into a huge love for riding. This year, I actually flew over to America for a big bike race all the way from Canada to Mexico. I think I’m due to clock up 10,000 km this year.”
But spring brings one major hazard.
“I actually think magpies are lovely birds — don’t get me wrong — but during spring it’s pretty much impossible to avoid getting swooped if you’re a cyclist,” she says.
“Leading up to these experiments, I was probably getting swooped at least 10 times a week.”
Armed with a science degree and curiosity, she began testing deterrents this season – starting with the classics.
“I tried the two most common strategies people recommend, which are the big eyes on the back of the helmet and the zip ties,” she says.
“But the eyes were completely ineffective on the first magpie I tested. What I’ve seen in being swooped as much as I do is that every bird is different. What works on one may not work on another.”
Mounting zip ties “in all sorts of crazy directions” didn’t stop the attacks either – though it did keep the birds from making contact.
Then came the more unconventional methods.
“I thought, ‘Okay, maybe the helmet itself is the trigger, so what happens if I cover it completely with a bird mask?’” she says.
She tried a seagull mask, which initially worked – until she met a different bird that wasn’t fooled.
The biggest surprise came next.
“The wig really shocked me,” Skinner says.
“For whatever reason, this big voluminous hair seemed to bypass their threat perception. I didn’t end up getting swooped at all. It’s been the only thing that’s completely stopped the more aggressive magpie I’ve been testing on.”
Even the T-shirts are perfect for the occasion. Photo: Screenshot.
She began with one particularly feisty bird but soon noticed it out with its chick.
“So I hopped on the Magpie Alert website to find an even more aggro one, and it’s been quite interesting to see the differences in behaviour. Some strategies that worked on one, like tinsel, were completely ineffective on the second.”
Her videos – often featuring swoops in slow motion – have now garnered hundreds of thousands of views and even been featured by outlets like The Today Show.
The best part, she says, has been the flood of suggestions from followers.
“Given the current magpie is a real keen ear-biter, I wouldn’t mind trying some fake ears over the top of the helmet to see if that does anything,” she says.
“Or, given it’s Halloween, maybe a mask on the back of the helmet.”
Other ideas have been less appealing.
“One person suggested putting Vegemite on my ears – but for one, I’m not sure it would work, and two, even if it did, I don’t think I want to walk around all day with my ears smelling like Vegemite.”
The seagull mask was a failure with this “savage”. Photo: Screenshot.
Next year, Skinner hopes her experiments might inspire a bigger effort.
“I hopped on Google Scholar to read what’s been published about swooping deterrence, and there’s actually not a heap of information,” she says.
“I think the great thing about the internet era is that citizen science is more accessible than ever … so hey, who knows, maybe next year we can do The Great Aussie Swoop Experiment, where everyone tries crazy things and sees what actually works.”
For now, she’s content being Canberra’s unofficial magpie test subject – though her experiments make for an interesting cycling kit.
“I’ll tell you what, if for whatever reason I ever get stopped and the police dig through my backpack, it would be very difficult to explain what all of the different wacky props were for.”
Steph, we salute you.
