The start of spring coincides with magpie swooping season.
Up and down New Zealand cyclists, golfers, farmers and pedestrians just minding their own business are all fair game once they step inside the bird's territory.
The Waipiata Country Hotel in Central Otago even has Magpie Alley Talley Board tallying how many cyclists have been swooped while cycling on the nearby Otago Rail Trail.
Emeritus Professor Gisela Kaplan from the University of New England is an expert in animal behaviour, and also literally wrote the book on Australian magpies.
Mountain bikers in Timaru are taking more of a risk in a Centennial Park of late with over protective magpies dive bombing the cyclists. Photo: 123RF
