A sign warning of swooping magpies near the scene of the tragedy at Woonona.Credit:Robert Peet
Magpies are a protected species in NSW,and councils will only relocate or remove the birds with approval from the National Parks and Wildlife Service if they pose a significant safety risk.
A spokeswoman for Hills Shire Council said it had received 40 complaints about the magpie and it was"determined to be a significant risk to public safety"by NPWS.
"Council does not usually take action to remove or destroy magpies – the usual procedure is to signpost known risk areas as birds are generally only aggressive for four to six weeks per year,"she said.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said magpies were a protected species in the state and were part of the natural environment,and there were no plans to remove the bird involved with Sunday's tragedy.
"People can report swooping birds and council can install signage,"he said."We don't want people to become vigilantes and remove the birds."
Mark Lawrie,chief executive of the Sydney University Veterinary Teaching Hospital,said it was"pretty much impossible"to stop magpies from aggressive swooping once they have learnt the behaviour.
"It’s a repeat behaviour from individual birds,not the whole magpie clan,"he said.
"Certain birds learn to attack and swoop,and[it's] probably like the barking dog with someone walking past the property;because the people go away,they think they’ve been successful,so it reinforces the behaviour."
Magpies also"seem to be able to recognise individuals who are aggressive to them"and will target them,Dr Lawrie said.
The best thing to do to protect yourself against swooping magpies is to avoid areas where they are known to be swooping,especially if you've been attacked in that spot before.
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Wearing protection such as a hat and sunglasses is also a good idea,although the old idea that sticking"eyes"on a hat or helmet will trick magpies is unlikely to work.
"Magpies are very smart birds ... my thinking is they probably wouldn’t fall for the eyes,"Dr Lawrie said."You see these bike helmets often where they've put cable ties spiking up on top ... there's probably some wisdom in that to say if they hit those spikes they'll move away."
withIllawarra Mercury