Aerial attack 1
A hapless Australian pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus had got out of the water onto a mudflat to preen itself. Its toilette got interrupted by a swooping Australian magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen.
Australian magpies often swoop and attack people and other animals during the breeding season. Cyclists and joggers are at particular risk from aggressive magpies. I had seen a magpie in nearby small park chase off two wood ducks but I had never seen the magpie on the mudflat let alone harassing a pelican. What surprised me too is that I often spend time in the small park and magpies will come within a metre of me and show no aggression.
Aerial attack 1
A hapless Australian pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus had got out of the water onto a mudflat to preen itself. Its toilette got interrupted by a swooping Australian magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen.
Australian magpies often swoop and attack people and other animals during the breeding season. Cyclists and joggers are at particular risk from aggressive magpies. I had seen a magpie in nearby small park chase off two wood ducks but I had never seen the magpie on the mudflat let alone harassing a pelican. What surprised me too is that I often spend time in the small park and magpies will come within a metre of me and show no aggression.