A cyclist suffered an anaphylactic reaction after being attacked by a magpie.

'It smashed me really hard': Cyclist suffers an anaphylactic reaction after magpie swooped and scratched her face while she was cycling

Mellissa Gregory was bike riding with partner when she was attacked by magpie 

She claims the bird swooped and drew blood from her face causing it to swell

She was rushed to hospital leaving doctors confused over anaphylactic reaction 

By SAHAR MOURAD FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 14:37, 2 November 2019 | UPDATED: 14:37, 2 November 2019

Mellissa Gregory was bike riding with her partner at Chelsea's Bicentennial Park in Melbourne's south when a magpie swooped and attacked her face three times.

She claims the bird drew blood from her face causing it to swell from an allergic reaction. 

'Out of nowhere I just get hit in the side of the face,' she told 7NEWS.

'Next thing I know there's just blood everywhere... It honestly smashed into me really hard.'

Ms Gregory was rushed to hospital and doctors were left confused over the anaphylactic reaction. 

Continued

Why US bird attacks on humans are on rise

By Max MatzaBBC News, Washington

Bird attacks on humans are growing more common as people continue to encroach on bird nesting territory, wildlife experts warn.

Mary Heiman was walking her dog around a lake in downtown Denver, Colorado, in late July when a bird started flying uncomfortably close to her head.

Before she knew what was happening, the bird "body slams you in the back of the head, flies around frantically and then goes back in the bush", she told the Denver Post.

"It's funny," she said. "It's just startling when it happens."

Andrea Jones, the director of bird conservation for the California chapter of environmental organisation National Audubon Society, says attacks are definitely rising.

"The increase we're seeing is because we're encroaching on bird habitats. So there are more bird-human interactions," she says.

Most of the incidents arise when birds are trying to raise their young. Nesting birds are very defensive of their chicks - "like a mama bear", she says - and will even attack animals much larger than themselves.

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PREY FOR HELP ‘Monster’ bird on the loose in Scotland leaving victims drenched in blood as escaped raptor divebombs helpless passersby

John Jeffay

4 Jul 2019, 11:33

A MONSTER bird that left a man soaked in blood is on the loose in the outskirts of Aberdeen.

The mystery raptor, which divebombs walkers and cyclists, is believed to have escaped from a local falconer.

Several reports have now been made of an unknown bird swooping at people around Dyce, Hatton of Fintray and Newmachar over the last week.

On Monday, the animal was spotted repeatedly attacking a man close to the Dyce Juniors football pitch.

The man was covered in blood, but a passing driver noticed him struggling against the bird and pulled over to help.

The individual said he had been assaulted by the raptor for 20 minutes, and suffered wounds to his head. 

Another victim said he had been cycling along a back road in the direction of Cothal, north-west of Dyce, when he suddenly felt a “heavy, but cushioned thump” on the back of his head.

Thankfully, the cyclist had been wearing a helmet, but when he removed it to check for damage, he found three claw marks in the protective plastic.

Keith Marley, who runs the Ellon-based animal rescue centre New Arc, said he had received several concerned calls regarding the unknown bird.

Continued

Asbaby the swan: terrorising Cambridge punters, just like his granddad

Students and tourists are being attacked by a swan on the River Cam where the legendary Mr Asbo – reportedly his forebear – once wreaked havoc

Wed 19 Jun 2019 17.46 BSTLast modified on Thu 20 Jun 2019 10.39 BST

Name: Asbaby.

Age: Unknown, though he has been cropping up in reports of violence since 2015.

Location: The River Cam in Cambridge, which, like the city itself, is full of entitled students and tourists paying a fortune for punts, who find themselves united in the battle between humans and swans.

And so who is Asbaby? A hero or villain – it depends whose side you are on. He is the latest swan to wage war on humans, and was recently photographed attacking students who had jumped into the river after college celebrations.

What do you mean by “the latest”? Asbaby’s “grandfather” – it is far from clear that a familial link has ever been established – was Mr Asbo, a wonderfully combative swan who terrorised rowers and everyone else on the river from 2010 until he was controversially moved to a secret location 60 miles from Cambridge in 2012.

Asbo? Oh come on, you remember, it’s the acronym for anti-social behaviour order – Tony Blair’s big idea that was introduced in 1998 to stop public drunkenness and other loutish behaviour, and which has now gone the way of all his other big ideas, such as economic growth, being on friendly terms with Europe and waging wars in the Middle East.

But back to this battleground ... Well, no sooner had Mr Asbo been carted off to some rural backwater where he could no longer wreak havoc than his supposed son Asboy appeared on the scene, pecking punters, roughing up rowers and scaring students.

So what happened to Asboy? Well, swans do all look pretty similar: could Asboy and Asbaby be the same swan? Or have generations of an entire flock been driven mad by posh students in rowing blazers?

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Couple from Knott End held prisoner in own home - by seagulls

RICHARD HUNT

Published: 11:13 Thursday 20 June 2019

Pensioner Roy Pickard had only just walked out of his own front door when he was hit hard on the back of the head - hard enough to draw blood.

Shocked and confused about who or what had hit him, he whirled around and was confronted by a squawking seagull, circling close above him.

A ferociously protective seagull prevented Knott End pensioner Roy Pickard from leaving his house after its two chicks ended up on the canopy directly above his front door.

And then retired ambulance man Roy, aged 77, realised what the commotion was about.

He saw that the two seagull chicks, which had previously been on the highest point of the bungalow roof, had somehow slipped down and were now on the canopy directly above Roy's front door, only about nine feet off the ground.

It was the start of a six-day siege in which Roy, whose wife Brenda is not mobile and relies on him to get out and about, were unable to do what most people take for granted - get out of their front door.

Frantic Roy phoned the RSPCA, the RSPB, Wyre Council and even a number of national newspapers in a desperate attempt to get help, before Graham Liver, of BBC Radio Lancashire, came to the rescue.

After Roy spoke to him, the BBC man and a firm crew visited the couple's home and arranged for a gazebo to be set up temporarily, right outside the door, to provide some relief for the couple.

Roy, of Wyresdale Road, Knott End, said: "It started on the Friday last week and it's been absolutely terrible.

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Large, Exotic Bird That Killed Florida Man to Be Auctioned

A large, flightless bird that fatally attacked a Florida man is among some 100 exotic animals from his estate now up for auction.

By Associated Press, Wire Service Content April 23, 2019, at 10:35 a.m.

GAINESVILLE, FLA. (AP) — A large, flightless bird that fatally attacked a Florida man is among about 100 exotic animals from his estate now up for auction.

The Gainesville Sun reports the Gulf Coast Livestock Auction will auction the cassowary that killed 75-year-old Marvin Hajos in accordance with his last wishes.

Alachua County Sheriff's officials say Hajos apparently fell April 12 and the bird attacked him. First responders rushed him to a hospital but he died.

Cassowaries are similar to emus, stand up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall and weigh up to 130 pounds (60 kilograms).

The animals being auctioned include two double-wattled cassowaries and five ring-tailed and ruffled lemurs.

Fish and Wildlife spokesman Robert Klepper said buyers must be licensed to legally possess the animals.

Source

Florida Man Attacked, Killed By 'World's Most Dangerous Bird'

Apr 16, 2019, 09:22am

A large flightless bird killed a Florida breeder with its long claws in a “tragic accident” after the man fell in its enclosure

A 75-year-old Florida man was mortally wounded in an attack on Friday morning by a large flightless bird that he kept. He was taken to the UF Health Shands Hospital by paramedics, where he later died from his injuries. The man, Marvin Hajos, lived north of Gainesville in a rural part of Alachua county, according to local newspapers.

“My understanding is that the gentleman was in the vicinity of the bird and at some point, fell,” Deputy Chief Jeff Taylor told the Gainesville Sun.

“When he fell, he was attacked,” Mr. Taylor said, adding that the incident appeared to be a “tragic accident”.

According to a report by CNN, the first emergency call was made by Mr. Hajos, the bird’s owner, whilst a second call was received shortly afterward from another person on the property. It is not yet known what Mr. Hajos did to motivate the attack.

The attacker was identified as a southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, a large flightless bird that is native to tropical rain forests in northeastern Australia, New Guinea, and on several nearby island archipelagoes of Indonesia. The birds can weigh as much as 58.5 kg (130 pounds) and adults stand between 1.5 and 2.0m (5 and 6.5 feet) tall. Amongst living birds, only ostriches are larger.

Both sexes of cassowaries are clad in glossy funereal black plumage, and have featherless bright blue heads and necks accentuated with red wattles. Females are larger and more colorful than males. The birds’ colors intensify during courtship, territorial disputes and when they are threatened. Curiously, their skin is a uniformly bright blue color, even under their feathers.

Continued

Police at Eastern Michigan University have issued a warning: “Beware of goose!”

04 April, 2019 15:36

The department says potentially aggressive geese have been spotted on campus and issued the warning with a video on Instagram showing one goose attacking and chasing a person in a school car park.

Police say the attack happened on the north end of the school’s campus in Ypsilanti. Two geese are nesting in the area, and the birds are protective.

University spokesman Geoff Larcom says it’s not unusual for geese to nest on campus at this time of year. He says several students have reported goose attacks, but no injuries have been reported.

Mr Larcom told MLive.com: “A few students have tried to take selfies of the geese when they are hissing, but we advise against that.”

Read on

Hawk duo has sent more than a dozen hotel guests to the hospital

By Natalie Musumeci

January 15, 2019 | 10:18am

Modal Trigger

 It’s a real-life version of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”

An attacking pair of hawks hiding out in the parking lot of a Florida hotel have sent more than a dozen people to the hospital, according to a report.

One of the birds “just swooped down and attacked my head,” Cyndi Mara told News 13 in describing the terrifying incident that took place last week.

“[It] jarred me, and I looked up and saw a bird flying away,” Mara said. “I went inside, touched my head, washed my hands, and they were bloody.”

The hawk attack happened in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn in Brevard County where several similar attacks have occurred, according to the news outlet.

The culprits are a breeding pair of hawks that have built a nest in a nearby tree, News 13 reported.

A wildlife trapper said the hawks have already attacked 14 people, who were all hospitalized, including one man who needed 17 stitches.

“The Holiday Inn here, safety of their guests is their No. 1 priority,” James Dean of the animal removal service On Point Wildlife Removal said, according to the news outlet. “And that’s the reason we got on it quickly like we did.”

The trapper has destroyed the hawks’ nest, but on Monday afternoon at least one of the birds was spotted flying around nearby, the report said.

According to News 13, the red-tailed hawks are protected under federal law, but the trapper said he has permission from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to capture and release the birds into a wildlife conservation area.

Source

'Very dangerous, aggressive' magpie to be relocated

8th Nov 2018 1:00 PM | Updated: 1:33 PM

UPDATE, 2.30pm: LISMORE City Council's environmental strategies coordinator, Leonie Walsh, said she could understand people's concerns about plans to relocate an aggressive magpie.

But she said although dangerous behaviour was rare in birds, when it occurred it was important the bird was relocated.

"It's understandable people are concerned about interfering with birds and they are correct this is natural bird behaviour," she said.

"However, both Griffith University and the University of New England have done research over the years to develop ways to safely trap and relocate them; if they are relocated at least 50km away, the bird won't come back and will adapt fairly well and find a new family."

Ms Walsh said it was usually the male showing the aggressive behaviour.

"When he is removed another male will usually move straight in," she said.

"He is so pleased with the opportunity that in most cases will look after he family better than his predecessor and with less aggression."

Original story: A "VERY aggressive" magpie will be moved from Spinks Park next week after Lismore City Council received a number of complaints.

The council posted the news on its Facebook page today.

"We will be relocating a very aggressive magpie from Spinks Park next week but in the meantime please avoid this area," they wrote.

"The bird is having a go at anyone walking/cycling along the path behind the old gallery building, through the rose garden and near the kids playground.

"We are awaiting approval and will relocate the bird as soon as possible."

The post attracted a lot of comments from people who were concerned about the magpie being moved.

Continued  

A Perth council is swooping in on the magpie epidemic in a particular park

AN aggressive magpie has left two young children with horrific eye injuries. But a quirk in the law may mean nothing is done.

Shireen Khalil

news.com.au SEPTEMBER 28, 20187:14AM

THERE is one magpie causing extreme havoc in the City of Stirling in Perth and the council wants a license to cull the offending bird.

The council took action after attacks in Clarko Reserve, a grassy beachside park, left two Perth children with severe eye injuries and others with scratched faces.

City of Stirling parks and sustainability manager Ian Hunter said the council would apply to the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions to eradicate the offending bird.

“After assessing events over the weekend, the City has determined that recent magpie attacks at Clarko Reserve have been ongoing and of a serious nature, and will apply to DBCA for a dangerous fauna licence to remove the offending bird,” Mr Hunter said in a statement.

A DBCA spokesman told news.com.au that once a license is approved, an animal control agent will conduct an assessment of the problem magpie and if deemed a threat, it will then be taken out with a firearm.

“As assessment is made on site. No bird is ever destroyed without an assessment being made,” the spokesperson said. “Generally the control agent will visit the location, and watch its behaviour, signs of swooping and aggression.”

Mr Hunter added that if there was evidence of ongoing aggressive behaviour from magpies in a City park or reserve, the City could investigate and work with the DBCA to discuss preventive measures, going forward.

Perth Now reported that a magpie narrowly missed a five-year-old’s eye when it swooped her yesterday in Clarko Reserve, near where two small children were pecked in the eyes just days before.

Continued  

Counting crows: Vancouver college maps thousands of attacks

Tool launched in response to dive-bombing birds documents 2,500 attacks since 2016

Ashifa Kassam in Toronto

Fri 20 Jul 2018 09.32 BSTLast modified on Sat 21 Jul 2018 19.48 BST

It was a crow fiercely protecting its nest – and repeated complaints of it dive-bombing and swooping – that prompted the idea.

“Just about every day someone would come in and say: ‘I got smacked in the back of the head,’ or ‘Mary got smacked in the back of the head,’” said Jim O’Leary, a teacher at Langara College in Vancouver, Canada.

“I was thinking to myself: I know crows are smart but we’re pretty smart too. Isn’t there something that I can do about this?”

The result was CrowTrax, an online tool that since 2016 has documented about 2,500 crow attacks in the Metro Vancouver region, nearby Victoria and around the world.

O’Leary, who teaches a course on geographic information systems (GIS), initially envisioned the site as a way to show his students how such systems could be used to map and store spatial data.

“But it kind of took on a life of its own. Because most people really don’t care about GIS; they just care about crows,” he said.

Within hours of launching the site, reports began pouring in. About 1,000 anecdotes came in during the site’s first year, and 1,500 the next year.

Continued  

Woman trying to save ‘dazed’ owl gets attacked by bird in car

By Joshua Rhett Miller

May 9, 2018 | 1:16pm

This owl didn’t give a hoot that this lady was just trying to help.

A woman who spotted a disoriented great horned owl late Monday thought she was doing a good deed when she put the bird in her car and drove away for help – until it came to and attacked her behind the wheel and held her hostage.

“This owl, dazed when a motorist got it off Oracle Road last night, revived inside her car,” officials with the Arizona Game & Fish Department in Tucson said in a tweet. “It then latched onto her sleeve and steering wheel for some time.”

Mark Hart, a spokesman for the wildlife agency, told the Arizona Republic that the unidentified woman intended to “render aid” to the animal after it was apparently struck by a car. The woman’s mother contacted the agency after she became trapped inside her vehicle.

A department official then told the woman to pour water on the owl in an attempt to jar it loose, but instead the animal drank the water and kept its talons dug into the woman’s sleeve and her car’s steering wheel.

“She’s fortunate she wasn’t hurt,” Hart told the newspaper. “We have instances ranging from people trying to aide a coyote hit by a car and down on the street only to be bitten, to people separating young wildlife from their mothers in the mistaken notion that a mother has abandoned the small animal.”

The owl ultimately released its grip and hopped out of the car, Hart said. The animal appeared to be OK and was later spotted by the woman’s mother in the same area on Tuesday.

Source:  

Angry birds chase tourists at National Trust attraction

Visitors are being warned to give the Canada geese a wide berth as they have a 'territorial outlook'

Zara Whelan

20:23, 1 MAY 2018

A pair of “confrontational” Canada geese at Erddig have prompted a safety warning after the birds were spotted chasing visitors.

The aggressive North American birds have chosen to nest in the 1,200-acre gardens on the Wrexham estate,

Bosses at the National Trust owned property are urging people to stay away from the nesting pair, which are displaying a “territorial outlook”.

A sign has been erected in the gardens warning visitors to “take care” due to “confrontational geese”, with a Facebook post on the official Erddig page asking that “people give them some space for their safety- and also yours.”

With it’s leafy forest, manicured lawns and impressive water features it seems like the perfect spot for the geese to build a nest.

But with the historical estate attracting around 25,000 visitors a year, it’s far from ideal.

Read on  

PICTURES: RSPB warns against feeding red kites after toddlers Giulia and Luca Viarnaud, from Marlow, attacked in Higginson Park

10th April

People are being warned not to feed red kites after two toddlers were left with cuts when a bird swooped in and tried to snatch their sandwiches at a park in Marlow.

Giulia and Luca Viarnaud, aged five and three respectively, were enjoying their lunch in Higginson Park with mum Emily when the bird of prey dived at the children and tried to steal their sandwiches.

It went to Giulia first and, when it was unsuccessful, pounced on Luca’s lunch, managing to take it away.

Emily said her daughter was left with a scratch to her head as a result and she is now worried about letting her children play outside

Continued  

Peewees are fighting back after humans upset pecking order

Bernard Lagan, Sydney

January 2 2018, 12:00pm, The Times

If birds are supposed to be our feathered friends, it is just possible that we owe an apology to one native Australian species, which appears to have become a bit cheesed off with the human race.

Australia’s largest supermarket chain is the latest victim of the peewee, a common species about the size of a European blackbird that, until recently, was thought to be among the least aggressive Australian birds.

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Woolworths compensates staffer after vicious bird attack in car park

A woman who was "severely injured" when a bird swooped her has been compensated by Woolworths to the tune of almost $17,000.

Anita Smith was struck by a bird, a native peewee, on May 14 that's known to guard the entryway to Kiama Village Shopping Centre.

A customer service officer for the supermarket, Ms Smith had surgery on her injury in mid-July, described in a compensation claim as an "inturned central part of the right eye flap", Fairfax Media reports.

Ms Smith was among at least 10 people who required medical attention as a result of the bird's attacks, according to an area ophthalmologist.

The Workers Compensation Commission ordered Woolworths to pay Ms Smith her lost wages after the incident, which was almost $17,000 after 25 weeks of reduced employment.

The company also has to pay Ms Smith's medical and rehabilitation bills.

The supermarket however, argued that the incident had nothing to do with her employment. Counsel for the supermarket had argued she was "not performing any work" at the time of the injury.

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Mynas v miners: they might be swooping menaces but they're not all bad

Know your miner from your myna. Both are aggressive in different ways – discover why we’re killing one but never the other

Gary Nunn

Wednesday 29 November 2017 21.01 GMTLast modified on Wednesday 29 November 2017 22.55 GMT

A kookaburra nestles on my balcony and belts its deliciously rambunctious laugh, like an ape in a zoo. But, mid-cackle, it is interrupted by a series of urgent, high-pitched screams like sirens.

Three miner birds flutter in its face, screaming hysterically at it. At first, the kookaburra just gives the unrelenting interlopers an unblinking, nonchalant death stare before eventually giving in and moving on. The miners follow it and chase it out of the neighbourhood.

It is behaviour from the aggressive miner bird that I’ve noticed at disturbing levels – not just from my balcony but on streets and in parks. I’d heard that the miner bird was an introduced species and, given its aggression, felt this bird to be least worthy of my vote in the Guardian’s Bird of the Year poll. It is, however, a common misconception.

An ecologist, Stefan Hattingh, told me: “The miner bird is native to Australia. They’ll chase anything where they’ve got a nesting site nearby. They operate in a matriarchal system – the male is the lowest in the pecking order – and they breed in groups, which is why you saw three scream at the kookaburra. They know it’s carnivorous and will eat their young.”

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Swooping bird leaves faces bloodied and sends walkers running to cars

Sarah Swain, Manly Daily

October 27, 2017 7:21am

RESIDENTS of a northern beaches street have been forced to defend themselves with umbrellas after a brutal butcherbird started attacking them so fiercely it has drawn blood.

Locals in Eileen St, North Balgowlah have put signs outside their homes to warn walkers to beware of the unfriendly feathered creature which swoops on passers-by, often giving them a fierce peck on the face.

Some said they had even started driving to avoid having to walk in the street, while others have donned sunglasses, hats and put up umbrellas to shield themselves from the horror-film style situation.

Selma Creed, 81, said the brazen bird nearly knocked her over when it struck her, leaving her with blood running down her face. “I was stunned. I came in with my shopping and it pecked a hole in my head and blood was streaming,” she said.

“If I hadn’t have worn my glasses it would’ve got my eye. People walking up the street on their mobiles get attacked.”

Continued  

Surge in eye injuries as Melbourne magpies go on attack spree

Hospital issues warning as ‘extraordinary’ spate of bird-inflicted injuries include a penetrated eye that required surgery

Australian Associated Press

Thursday 19 October 2017 03.54 BSTLast modified on Thursday 19 October 2017 04.04 BST

A penetrated eye that needed surgery is just one of an “extraordinary” spate of magpie-inflicted injuries in Melbourne, and one hospital has issued a warning about the swooping birds.

The number of eye injuries caused by the bird has risen significantly, according to the emergency director of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospital, Dr Carmel Crock.

 “Normally, we might see one or two a month,” she told ABC radio on Thursday. “But in July we saw 14 cases of bird eye injuries. August there were 12.

“In the last week, we saw five in the one day, including a penetrating eye injury that needed to go to theatre.”

Many attacks took place in Lonsdale Street, Punt Road, Lygon Street and Heffernan Lane in the CBD, Crock said.

The “extraordinary” number of incidents led several staff registrars to ask hospital executives to take action, she said. “We really just did want to warn the public.

“Although a lot of the injuries are quite minor … they can really go all the way through and cause a penetrating injury, with bleeding and bruising at the back of the eye.”

Australia’s swooping season starts in spring as predominantly male magpies dive down on cyclists, pedestrians and runners who go near nests.

There have been 3,253 recorded attacks and 518 injuries linked to magpies across the country in 2017, according to the Magpie Alert website.

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Toddler injured in 'unusual' magpie attack

Alexandra Ristway, Seven News, PerthNow

September 19, 2017 11:31am

A TWO-year-old girl is Perth’s latest magpie attack victim, but experts say the offending bird is exhibiting “really unusual behaviour”.

Little Asha O’Leary was at the Jackadder Lake in Woodlands when the magpie attacked her – flying at her from the ground.

“I can’t work it out,” Asha’s mum Helen said.

“She was just on her scooter and it was coming up from the ground.”

The Innaloo mother took a video of her daughter’s injuries to show as a warning to other parents.

“My biggest fear is that (the magpie) might attack more kids,” she said.

“I know of about four other attacks through Facebook, within only two days by the same bird.”

Ms O’Leary said the offending bird was easily identifiable because it was missing part of its beak.

“Usually when a magpie’s being aggressive, it’s a swooping behaviour,” UWA ecologist Dr Amanda Ridley said.

“Jumping up from the ground is a really unusual behaviour.”

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